South Africa’s first case of corona virus was confirmed in Hilton, South Africa yesterday, The medical fraternity of Howick, Escort and Mooi River held a meeting to discuss the way forward.
We would like to help the community by providing the following information:
The Facts
At this stage there has only been one case of corona virus in South Africa. The patient was an adult male who lives in Hilton. There are no other confirmed cases. No children have been diagnosed yet and no doctors or medical staff either. This was confirmed by one of Ampath laboratory’s leading pathologists Dr. Mike King.
Does contracting corona virus mean I am going to die?
Contracting corona virus is not a death sentence. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) estimate the fatality rate of COVID-19 to only be 2,3%. This means that about 2 out of 100 people who get the virus will die from it. Usually these are very sickly people with multiple underlying risk factors such as diabetes, cancer or uncontrolled HIV. Thus far, only 3198 people have died due to the virus globally, where annual influenza virus kills about 11 000 people in South Africa every year.
Corona virus is not as contagious as people think. Although we don’t know exactly how easily it is passed on from person to person, it is believed to have an infection ratio of 1:2 according to a leading NICD virologist. This means that it is less contagious than measles and equal to normal influenza. This is why the most transmissions are to relatives and medical practitioners who have spent a lot of time and close physical contact with the patient.
What should I do if I think that I have corona virus?
If you are experiencing influenza like symptoms (coughing, fever, runny nose, sneezing or a sore throat) the best thing to do is to treat the symptoms. Contrary to what you might think, we recommend that you don’t come and see your doctor immediately, but rather take off work or school and stay at home. The reason for this is because we are trying to limit the spread of the illness. If you come into a doctor’s rooms with a viral infection, there is a high risk that you are going to infect other patients at the doctors rooms. Because corona virus is not so deadly, most people will recover with simple symptomatic treatment at home for 3-5 days. We recommend paracetamol for fevers and pain as well as the usual effervescent tablets for seasonal influenza.
If you are severely ill or are a high risk patient, then you should call a doctor. Doctors may consider doing home visits to limit the spread of the disease so please clearly state your intentions for an appointment when contacting your doctors receptionist.
Is there a test for corona virus?
There is a test that can be done to test for corona virus. A biofire multiplex PCR is a test that is done on your saliva or nasal mucous. The doctor will take a swab of the back of your throat as well as the back of your nose and send it to the laboratory for testing. At the moment these tests are quite expensive and take up to 48 hours to show a result as they have to be sent to Johannesburg for analysis. There is a lot of paperwork involved in doing these tests, so please explain your intention of having a test to the receptionist as this may take longer than an average consultation. Corona virus testing is guided by the NCID protocols and not by personal choice. So if you do no meet the required criteria, you will most likely be discouraged from testing by your doctor.
At this stage we are unsure which hospital is the designated hospital to be treated at should you contract corona virus, but throughout the day we should have clarity on that.
In Summary
Yes, there is confirmed corona virus in South Africa. No, we are not afraid of it. Yes, we are taking it seriously but we are not panicking and we encourage you to do the same. This is no different than most other influenzas viruses. It is not more contagious and it is not more deadly than seasonal influenza. Most of the hype is because this is a new virus and we are still working on a vaccine. Speaking on the topic of vaccines, the annual influenza vaccines are available at the end of March and we highly recommend that you get one to prevent contracting influenza later this year. Unfortunately it cannot protect you against corona virus.
Best wishes, and remember to wash your hands as many times a day as possible.