DES MOINES – Members of the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology met on Friday to talk about the coronavirus as more and more cases are being reported throughout the world.
Iowa officials are now recommending all Iowa health care facilities should implement screening procedures before or at patient check-in. Below are the recommended patient screening questions:
- Do you have a fever and respiratory symptoms?
- Did you travel to China in the 14 days before you got sick or did you have contact with someone with possible 2019-nCoV in the 14 days before you got sick?
Health care providers in Iowa, according to the state health department, are recommended to asses the patient in a private room with the door closed, ideally “in an airborne infection isolation room.” If symptoms are present in a patient and travel history is re-affirmed, health care providers are told to contact the Iowa Department of Public Health immediately. Right now, all testing is being performed at the Centers for Disease Control, and testing takes at least 48 hours.
There are seven different coronaviruses known to infect humans. There are four common coronaviruses (229E, NL63, OC43 and HKU1) that circulate widely. Most people will get infected with one or more of the common human coronaviruses in their lifetime.
The four common coronaviruses:
• Usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold
• Are generally self-limiting and last for a short period of time in otherwise healthy people
• Can cause lower respiratory tract illness (like pneumonia or bronchitis) in people with underlying disease conditions or weakened immune systems
• More commonly circulate during the fall and winter, but can occur any time of the year
The remaining three coronaviruses are rare and include:
- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV)
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV)
- 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) – associated with the current outbreak in China