Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, Head of the Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Pharmacology at Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine, emphasizes that the course of the coronavirus is equivalent to the course of previous viruses such as swine flu. Pointing out that panic should be avoided but precautions should also be taken, Uzbay also warns about leeches, which are widely used in treatment in our country. "If leeches are imported from China, care must be taken with leeches, and places where leech treatments are performed must provide explanatory information on how these leeches are obtained."
After the virus passed from animal to human, it mutated to infect other people!
Providing information about the coronavirus, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay, Advisor to the Rector of Üsküdar University, Head of the Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine, gave information about the general course of the epidemic. Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay; "Corona virus infections have been seen for the last 15 years. It is a new type of this virus family, which is currently on the agenda, and the first diagnosis of this virus in humans was made in China on December 12. Especially in Wuhan, China, the number of cases suddenly started to increase. Chinese health authorities have been investigating the situation. There have been viral outbreaks of the flu before, including swine flu, bird flu and SARS. We are facing a similar situation with Corona. The virus passes from animal to human and then transforms into a human-to-human form. Although the first explanations about the source of the virus were bats, it was later suggested that the source could be a snake. It was noteworthy that the majority of the first cases were employees or customers of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. While snakes are also sold there for food, it is also known that these snakes often feed by hunting bats in the wild. As a result, viruses can be transmitted from various animals to humans, causing unexpected outbreaks of human-to-human transmission."
Not every person who gets the virus may be sick
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay stated that there is no such thing that every person who takes every organism will get sick; "When the virus enters the body, it attacks the immune system and establishes its headquarters there, and if your immune system is strong, the virus becomes ineffective. You are not even aware that you have encountered such a virus. Sometimes viruses can persist in your body for a very long time without causing illness. In this case, you become a carrier. Hepatitis C and HIV are the best examples of this. Although some carriers of these viruses do not get sick, they can transmit the virus to others in various ways. There may be similar cases with the coronavirus. Since December 12, the virus has been detected in more than 9,000 people with symptoms of the disease... Looking at these numbers, it is possible that other people in the Wuhan region may have been infected, but they did not get sick because their immune system was strong or they had resistance to this virus."
The general profile of the coronavirus is known and a vaccine will be developed against it
Stating that virus outbreaks are not like in science fiction movies, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay; "We also watch them in science fiction movies. Sudden deaths occur somewhere, it depends on something viral or bacterial, but you cannot detect what it is. Until you do, a period of time passes and deaths increase. The scenarios in the movies are in people's minds, causing undue fear and panic. The scientific reality now is that the name and characteristics of the virus causing the pandemic are well known. So we know what the threat is and its characteristics. This is very important for developing preventive treatment and taking precautions. There is no treatment at the moment, but a vaccine against it will definitely be developed. Vaccines have been developed for similar viruses before. The World Health Organization and the health systems of countries are working very well. Many epidemics that could have happened before have been prevented. For example; Spanish flu was the biggest flu epidemic the world had ever experienced in 1918. According to some sources, more people lost their lives in this pandemic than in World War II. We are talking about millions of people. When we look at swine flu, Sars and Ebola, we are talking about numbers in the thousands. Even the spread of the HIV virus has been stopped at certain rates. In Corona, there is currently a global loss of over 200 people. On the other hand, there are thousands of people who survived the disease or did not get sick. When we look at the death cases, as in every epidemic, it is usually the elderly, people with chronic diseases, people with low immunity, that is, people in the risk group. The course of this outbreak is similar to the previous ones. With the measures taken, the rate of spread will slow down and control will be provided with vaccination."
Attention to leech treatment!
Stating that the world has shrunk due to globalization, travel and interaction have increased, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay; "There is a subject that attracts my attention. Cases seen in other countries have not increased as intensely as in Wuhan province. The measures taken undoubtedly have a share in this, but the focus of the virus in China should not be ignored. Animal-to-human transmission gains importance here. Other viruses can also pass from animal to human and can change and cause fatal diseases. They can even infect other people. For example, leeches are used extensively in treatments in our country. The origin of the leeches used in treatment, which is carried out ethically by experts, must be known and, of course, these treatments must be carried out under the supervision of the ministry. For unethical treatments, there may be purchases and use from the internet or other unregulated sources under the stairs. Leeches may also be brought from the Far East for treatment purposes. It is not unreasonable to question leech treatment based on the human connection with the snake or bat in the coronavirus. This treatment needs to be reconsidered. If leeches are imported from China, care must be taken. Places where leech treatments are carried out must provide explanatory information about how these leeches are obtained. This is an important issue as it is a very widely used treatment method in our country. Likewise, attention should be paid to food supplements and foods of uncertain and uncontrolled Far Eastern origin."
Biological weapon theories are misleading
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay talked about the issue of viruses being a biological weapon threat; "There are news circulating on social media and some media that biological weapons are being worked on, that this virus escaped from the laboratory and caused great deaths. These conspiracy theories can be refuted from two points. First, if this was something produced in a laboratory, it would not be so easy to identify and characterize it. Secondly, if China produced Corona as a biological weapon, it would have to spread faster and be much more lethal in other races than the Chinese. The opposite is the case here. It may be true that China or other countries may be working on biological weapons, but this outbreak is not like that. It is important not to build conspiracy theories and create an atmosphere of panic and fear. Because the course of the virus is just like previous outbreaks. Last year, about 400 thousand people died in the world in flu epidemics. At the moment, our hope is to take precautions against coronavirus in a cold-blooded manner before more deaths occur and to develop a vaccine that will completely eliminate the possibility of growth. In all infectious diseases, there is a silent period called the incubation period. This period varies according to the individual. Various scientific sources indicate that this period is 2-14 days in Corona. The virus can be transmitted to others without symptoms of the disease, you can get the virus from handshakes, hugs, other close contacts, but you may not get sick, you can survive the disease without death. If it is transmitted even when there are no symptoms, it can become more widespread on a global scale. Fever measurements are made with thermal cameras at airports, but people who pass through there and do not yet show symptoms can also be carriers. There is no guarantee that they are not carriers. This poses a risk. The precautionary measure is to cut off communication and interaction from places where this disease emerges and is widespread for a while. Many countries are currently doing this. With this in mind, some countries have restricted people coming from China or keep the incoming people in quarantine for 14 days first."
Necessary precautions should be taken without panic!
Prof. Dr. Tayfun Uzbay concluded his words by mentioning the measures that can be taken individually as follows: "We need to take constant care to wash our hands with soapy water. These viruses can also be picked up through contact when we touch our hands and then put them on our face and mouth. Hands should definitely be washed after being in common areas such as airports, shopping malls, public transportation vehicles, and masks can of course be worn in very crowded areas. However, there is not much cause for great panic. There will be losses from the flu every year in the world, but when we look at it, we see that the vast majority of these are elderly people, people with a second problem, people with serious problems such as circulation, heart, and children. There are also groups that are naturally susceptible to these types of viruses, but their numbers are quite small. Outbreaks do not necessarily have to be Corona. People in the at-risk group can react in the same way to other viruses and epidemic agents. This is why we advocate vaccination. Conspiracy theorists say 'first they release the disease and then they release the vaccine', but no sane country would do such a thing. These types of viruses already exist, they can mutate and pass to humans in various ways and cause disease. Developing a vaccine for them is very important in terms of preventive medicine. Preventive treatments such as vaccines both reduce deaths and reduce the cost of treatment during the disease process. I would like to emphasize this in these days when anti-vaccination is defended as if it were a good thing."