{"id":1243,"date":"2020-02-25T14:42:14","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T13:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/laboratory-en\/le-misure-di-prevenzione-per-evitare-il-contagio-da-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2020-02-25T18:19:05","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T17:19:05","slug":"measures-to-prevent-coronavirus-infection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/hygiene-en\/measures-to-prevent-coronavirus-infection\/","title":{"rendered":"Measures to prevent infection by the Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Coronaviruses\nare members of a large family of enveloped viruses that cause diseases of\nvarying severity. Some varieties lead to nothing more serious than common cold\nwhile others cause severe respiratory conditions like <strong>SARS<\/strong> (Severe Acute\nRespiratory Syndrome) and <strong>MERS<\/strong> (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome)<sup>[1]<\/sup>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nNovel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new variety, first identified in humans in\nthe Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>COVID-19<\/strong> is a zoonotic virus and like its predecessors, SARS-CoV and\nMERS-CoV, has been transmitted to human beings from animals. At the moment it\nis not known which animal transmitted the virus to humans, but we know that\npets are not responsible for the transmission of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contagion\ncan also occur person to person <\/strong>through contact\nwith droplets of saliva from infected persons or through <strong>contact with\ncontaminated surfaces<\/strong>. According to the Journal of Hospital Infection, the\nvirus can survive for up to 9 days on inanimate surfaces<sup>[2]<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The virus&#8217;\nincubation period ranges from 2 to 14 days from the time of exposure<sup>[3]<\/sup>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>most\ncommon symptoms<\/strong> indicative of infection are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>fever<\/li><li>cough<\/li><li>shortness of breath<\/li><li>respiratory difficulties<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In more\nserious cases, infection by COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia, severe respiratory\nsyndrome, kidney failure and death<sup>[1]<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compared\nto SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, COVID-19 seems to be proportionally <strong>less dangerous<\/strong><sup>[4][5]<\/sup>.\nUnfortunately, the virus is spreading rapidly and the <strong>number of people\ninfected is far higher<\/strong> than that affected by its predecessors and circa ten\ntimes the number infected by SARS. At the time of writing (25<sup>th<\/sup>\nFebruary 2020), around 80,000 cases have been recorded and this figure is\nrising constantly<sup>[6]<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No\ntreatments for the Novel Coronavirus have been identified yet, so it is <strong>essential\nto adopt protocols to prevent and control infections<\/strong>\nbased on specific measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The World\nHealth Organisation recommends applying <strong>various preventative measures to\navoid the transfer of infection<\/strong><sup>[7]<\/sup>. These can be summarised as\nfollows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>wear face masks in the event of suspect\nsymptoms to avoid spreading the virus;<\/li><li>avoid close contact with persons showing\nsymptoms of cough or fever;<\/li><li>in case of cough, fever or respiratory\ndifficulty, contact a doctor immediately or call the emergency number provided\nregionally or nationally;<\/li><li>cover your mouth with a tissue or bent\narm when coughing or sneezing, then dispose of the tissue immediately and wash\nyour hands;<\/li><li>wash your hands frequently with soap and\nwater if they are visibly dirty; if they appear clean, an alcohol-based\nantiseptic soap is to be preferred;<\/li><li>avoid contact between the hands and the\neyes, nose or mouth unless you have washed your hands thoroughly;<\/li><li>avoid contact with inanimate surfaces\nunless you have washed your hands thoroughly;<\/li><li>disinfect inanimate surfaces using\nproducts at least with a \u201climited virucidal\u201d spectrum, or products effective\nagainst enveloped viruses like Coronavirus<sup>[8]<\/sup>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the end, the <strong>American Dental\nAssociation created a specific handout for dental clinics<\/strong>, where it reports\nthe following guidelines<sup>[9]<\/sup>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>identify and isolate patients\nwith severe respiratory symptoms;<\/li><li>provide patients in the waiting\nroom showing mild symptoms (coughing or sneezing) with surgical masks and\ndisposable tissues, with no-touch receptacles to throw the used tissues;<\/li><li>the clinic personnel in contact\nwith patients should wear disposable masks, gloves, gowns and goggles to avoid\na potential contagion; <\/li><li>the clinic personnel and the\npatients should perform hand hygiene with soap and water or with an alcoholic\nsolution after the possible contact with respiratory secretions or contaminated\nsurfaces;<\/li><li>it is important to follow\nstrictly the routine disinfection protocols in the clinic.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For the disinfection of surfaces we advise <strong>NOT\nTO USE \u201chomemade\u201d solutions, but to trust only products certified according to\nthe European norm EN 14476 and\/or the German norm DVV\/RKI<\/strong>, which make sure\nthat the product has been tested and is effective against the specified types\nof viruses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-certified products and \u201chomemade\u201d\nsolutions are very dangerous<\/strong>, because their\neffectiveness against microorganisms is not tested: they also risk empowering\nthem and make them immune to disinfection protocols. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zhermack\noffers a wide range of products for disinfecting surfaces and for other\napplications effective against enveloped viruses, including COVID-19. Our Zeta\nHygiene range has been providing effective disinfection for over ten years, and\nhas <strong>been tested according to the latest European standards to ensure the\nsafety of professionals<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For\nfurther information, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zhermack.com\/en\/product_category\/dental\/dental-practice\/hygiene\/\">click\nhere<\/a> and discover our complete range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[1]<\/sup> World Health Organization (WHO), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/coronavirus\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/coronavirus<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[2]<\/sup>Kampf G, Todt D, Pfaender S, Steinmann E, Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and its inactivation with biocidal agents, Journal of Hospital Infection, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhin.2020.01.022\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhin.2020.01.022<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[3] <\/sup>World Health Organization (WHO), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[4]<\/sup> Smith R., Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2006.08.004\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2006.08.004<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[5]<\/sup> World Health Organization (WHO), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/csr\/don\/31-january-2020-mers-united-arab-emirates\/en\/\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/csr\/don\/31-january-2020-mers-united-arab-emirates\/en\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[6]<\/sup> World Health Organization (WHO), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/situation-reports\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/situation-reports<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[7]<\/sup>World Health Organization (WHO): Infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection is suspected. Interim guidance. 2020. WHO\/2019-nCoV\/IPC\/v2020.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[8]<\/sup> World Health Organization (WHO), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-on-infection-prevention-and-control-for-health-care-workers-caring-for-patients-with-suspected-or-confirmed-2019-ncov\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-on-infection-prevention-and-control-for-health-care-workers-caring-for-patients-with-suspected-or-confirmed-2019-ncov<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>[9] <\/sup>American Dental Association (ADA): Infectious Diseases: 2019 Novel Coronavirus. <a href=\"https:\/\/success.ada.org\/en\/practice-management\/patients\/infectious-diseases-2019-novel-coronavirus?_ga=2.153538490.386659501.1582618359-1502473633.1575562435\">https:\/\/success.ada.org\/en\/practice-management\/patients\/infectious-diseases-2019-novel-coronavirus?_ga=2.153538490.386659501.1582618359-1502473633.1575562435<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coronaviruses are members of a large family of enveloped viruses that cause diseases of varying severity. Some varieties lead to nothing more serious than common cold while others cause severe respiratory conditions like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome)[1]. The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new variety, first identified in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hygiene-en"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.zhermack.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}