CORONAVIRUS CODID-19

What is it about?

„Coronavirus” is a general term which stands for any virus of the Coronaviridae family. Viruses from this family cause diseases in people, as well as in animals, and usually manifest themselves with common symptoms such as cold, cough, breathing difficulties, and increased temperature; however in some, significantly less common cases, they can also cause serious illness (familiar SARS or MERS viruses).

The novel type of coronavirus that first appeared in the Chinese province of Hubei in early December was labelled by the World Health Organization as COVID-19. It is often called also SARS-CoV-2. Typical symptoms of this disease include high fever, dry cough (i.e. no cold) causing shortness of breath, or possibly joint and muscle pain. It follows that the symptoms may be similar to the well-known flu.

How is COVID-19 spread?

All coronaviruses are transmitted from person to person after close contact (less than 1.5m), mainly by airborne droplet transmission. In most cases, it affects the mucous membranes of the upper and lower respiratory tract.

The World Health Organization estimated the incubation period for this disease to be 2 to 14 days. During this incubation period, the infected person does not experience any health problems, however, he or she is contagious and can pass the virus on.

What are the best protective measures regarding this disease?

When it comes to this disease, preventive measures are the same as with other viral disease (for example the well-known flu) and that means mainly proper hygiene, especially frequent and thorough washing of hands, and general strengthening of the immune system. It is also advisable to avoid all areas with larger numbers of people and people experiencing respiratory (breathing) difficulties, or, alternatively, to use a FFP3 class respirator. (However, those are currently available only to healthcare professionals.)

Utilization of thermal imaging for this disease?

Quick and non-contact detection of increased temperature as one of the basic symptoms of this disease can help to diagnose a large number of people, especially in cases when they are not experiencing any serious problems; and a slightly increased temperature may be the initial symptom of this highly contagious disease. Measuring temperature of the human body with thermal imaging is nothing unheard of, and especially in medical institutions, there are good reasons for its quite common use based on the thermal symmetry of the human body. With thermal camera, you are able not only to easily recognize whether the given person has a higher temperature, but also to diagnose a number of other problems and diseases.

Sources:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00784-020-03248-x