Khalid Simply Says

ABC: Animals, Bats and Corona Virus Lord Matt Ridley’s report in my words This much we know that an animal was the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the current novel coronavirus). However, was it a bat or a pangolin (a scaly anteater) or perhaps both? It’s not clear. As I sat down to read the paper this past weekend, an article in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye. I thought to share it with my friends. So here it is a report by Lord Matt Ridl ey —in my words. But before I do that, let me share what I have learnt so far about bats. There are about 1,300 species of bats in the world. Some are tiny, as tiny as a bumble bee, while others such as fruit bats can weigh up to 4 pounds and flying foxes have a wingspan of 5 feet. Bats are mammals and can live up to 30 years. Some live solitary lives while others live in colonies of more than a million. Bats have been the source of most of the dangerous new diseases of the past two decades. The natural reservoir of rab...

How to Navigate the Corona Virus Sharing useful information from the Wall Street Journal Edited and summarized by Khalid Rehman. MD How to Navigate Corona Virus was published in the Wall Street Journal on Friday March 13, 2020. I found the information accurate, clear and timely and have summarized it here. What is Corona Virus and where did it come from?: The scientific name of this new (novel) virus is SARS-CoV-2 and the illness it causes is called COVID-19. It belongs to the Corona Virus family. SARS and MERS viruses are the other notable members of this family. It generally infects bats and small mammals. It is believed to have been transmitted to humans from a small mammal in the city of Wuhan in China. It is highly infectious and is transmitted through particles spread during coughing and sneezing. How do you know if you have it? The virus can cause mild flu like symptoms as well as lower respiratory infection like pneumonia. The early symptoms are sore thr...

Do I have common cold or Corona Virus? All of us have had viral infections sometimes in our lives. Common cold, the stomach virus and Influenza virus are some of the more common ones. The current worldwide epidemic named COVID-19 is a respiratory tract illness that is caused by a virus that belongs to the corona virus family. The official name of the virus is SARS-CoV-2. The other well-known viruses in the corona virus family are SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) viruses. The common way to diagnose infections is to culture the germs, e.g. for suspected strep throat, the doctor takes a swab from the throat and sends it to the lab for culture. The lab grows the bugs in the petri dish and report back to the doctor’s office in day or two. Unfortunately, viruses cannot be grown in the petri dish. So how do we diagnose viral infections?   There are essentially two methods: One is to determine if the patient has the in...