Coronavirus in Brazil: how to protect yourself?

By Fábio de Oliveira, from Agência Einstein - The country has registered its first cases of local spread of the new coronavirus in recent days. The Ministry of Health is already working with a scenario of community or sustained transmission of the microorganism in the coming weeks. In other words, contagion will occur without knowing the source, that is, who actually transmitted the virus. “We have to understand that a large part of the people infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic, that is, they do not present symptoms and, when they manifest, they are very mild and may go unnoticed or be ignored by the patient,” explains infectologist Roberto Muniz Jr., from the Albert Einstein Brazilian Israelite Beneficent Society. “In fact, 50% or more of those infected are asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic.”

Given this scenario, the parameters for suspected cases, for example, are beginning to change. One example is individuals who have returned from international travel in the last 14 days. "From now on, patients with flu-like symptoms will be considered within the criteria even if they have not returned from countries with the virus or had identified contact with someone who has been infected," says Muniz. See below some useful measures and others not so useful in this new context:

Isolation is effective.

It is effective insofar as it prevents the infected person from circulating and passing the virus on. This effectively reduces the risk of transmission. Each individual with the microorganism transmits it to an average of 2,7 people. Of course, a measure like isolation, alone, without being part of a series of other actions, will not by itself contain the coronavirus. This is because, as mentioned above, a large part of the infections are asymptomatic and these people will not be isolated. However, slowing down the transmission of the virus can dilute the number of new cases treated at the same time and allows the health system to cope with those who actually need care.

Adoption of home office

“Working from home is certainly an effective protective measure,” says the infectious disease specialist. Transmission is respiratory and via contact with secretions. Avoiding environments where people are in close proximity is certainly a common-sense measure at this time. In other words: whenever possible, stay away from crowds. 

Need to close schools

At some point, this may be put into practice. "Closing schools and canceling events may be necessary," says Muniz. "There are very clear criteria for when to determine actions of this magnitude, and statements from experts and the Ministry of Health support taking this measure at the right time. At this moment, these conditions have not yet been met."

elderly care

“These are the people we need to worry about the most,” warns Muniz. “Especially diabetics, those with hypertension, and those with other comorbidities (the occurrence of two or more diseases simultaneously) because they are the main target of this new disease.” It's worth taking some precautions: 

• Avoiding travel and crowded places is crucial right now.
• Cough etiquette (cough into disposable tissues or your elbow, not your hand)
• Wash your hands thoroughly (for at least 20 seconds). Use hand sanitizer and masks liberally when recommended. 
• Avoid unnecessary trips to the emergency room or other places with sick people. 
• Do not visit sick relatives in hospitals.

When is the use of masks recommended? 

They are recommended in environments with likely disease transmission, such as emergency rooms, hospitals, and crowded places. The exclusive use of masks without frequent hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer is not effective and increases the risk of contamination.