Today, the global community remains concerned about the state of healthcare as new diseases arise, and the treatment for the widespread illnesses remains undeveloped. At the time of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to study the subject thoroughly. As the pandemic enters the second wave worldwide, and millions of people get infected, the global health situation is undermined. The virus’s mutation poses a significant threat to the community, while epidemiologists worldwide are still developing the vaccine. The pandemic’s massive coverage requires an in-depth investigation of its pathogen, treatment, and possible implications.
Information About the Article
The article “Coronavirus disease 2019: What we know?” by He, Deng, and Li in the Journal of Medical Virology in 2020 focuses on the central issues of the new coronavirus disease 2019. The article reviews the pathogen, epidemiology, clinical features, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease to create a full overview of the current picture (He et al., 2020). As the authors state the problem’s undeniable severity, they provide the medical data to give a basis for the research. The review clarifies the situation from the time the outbreak occurred in Wuhan in late December 2019 to the world’s current situation. All the information and conclusions in the article are based on particular medical expertise and data from the lab, which proves its scientific trustworthiness. Thus, Chinese authors’ article about the current spread of coronavirus issued a few months ago gives a thorough analysis of such a global welfare problem such as COVID 19.
The Article Summary
The article’s introduction focuses on coronavirus appearance in China and its spread over the world. The group of coronaviruses (CoVs) is described in general as a highly diverse, enveloped, and single-stranded RNA group of viruses (He et al., 2020). The most famous respiratory syndromes of the past two decades SARS and MERS CoV are compared to COVID 19 based on their overlapping aspects of pathology as severe diseases in humans (He et al., 2020). Further research is based on the comparison of these syndromes and other medical precedents.
The pathogen was first identified in late January 2020 that most likely originated in bats. Similar to SARS, it may share the same life cycle. The epidemiology paragraph focuses on the transmission of COVID 19 mainly through droplets and close contact. The incubation period is about five days, ranging from 1 to 14 days, and 95% of patients usually experiencing symptoms within 12 days of contact (He et al., 2020). According to clinical features research, most cases were the patients from 30 and 79 years old, with the median age from 49 to 59 years old. The spectrum of clinical presentations ranges from asymptomatic infection to severe respiratory failure depending on the preexisting medical conditions (He et al., 2020). An in-depth investigation of the causes and symptoms allows the doctors to make decisions about the treatment more precisely.
The Implications of the Article in Local Communities
It is essential to inform the communities to keep them safe, as coronavirus continues spreading worldwide. In January 2020, the WHO issued a public health emergency of international concern, which needs to be addressed globally. At the moment, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for COVID 19, so the only option for people now is to stop the spreading as soon as possible. The best strategy is to control the infection sources, protect the older population in the risk group, and cut off the transmission (He et al., 2020). As for the medical staff, they should do their best to help everyone get tested and diagnosed to avoid complications. Giving people scientific and reliable information is critical to keep the situation under control.
As a community health nurse, I could use this information to spread the knowledge and make presentations in local nursing homes. My professional occupation makes it possible to contribute to the solution of global healthcare problems by raising awareness about the issue. The article proves to be especially useful for community health nursing as it provides detailed scientific experiment-based information about COVID 19 and similar respiratory syndromes. It describes the incubation period, transmission method, and patients at risk to give an overview of the situation. Moreover, the review explains how COVID 19 is treated with general instructions for medical staff. Today, the polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) identifies causative viruses from respiratory secretions. When the diagnosis is confirmed, the symptomatic treatment begins, as antiviral drugs’ efficiency still needs to be verified (He et al., 2020). Noninvasive or mechanical ventilation is used in hypoxia patients, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation can be used as a last resort (He et al., 2020). Knowing these specifics is vital for nurses as the lack of medical staff during the pandemic is sharp, and all communities need to be prepared to help locals in such hard times.
The article is also helpful education-wise because it gives a brief overview of what COVID 19 is, how it appeared, and works. Such a summary allows nurses to affectively explain the issue to the local community as specific numbers of cases and rates of spreadability and mortality can make a more substantial point for people. For now, the control measures are the only way to prevent epidemic effectively while proceeding the work on vaccines, so people should prolong the precautions to stay safe. The article is written in a simple language, which is also convenient in spreading the information or making presentations at the local communities.
All of it is possible through keeping the population up-to-date about the situation and actions they need to take. Sick patients should be familiar with the process and necessity of isolation and possible complications. Healthy individuals should also be well informed of the severity of the virus and actively take measures to safeguard themselves by staying at home, distancing, and wearing face masks. To encourage the information spreading, government authorities and community health nurses should keep everyone updated on the situation about COVID 19 and encourage them to follow the safety procedures. Public health nurses need to stimulate limiting social contacts, discouraging mass gatherings, and canceling public events in their local residencies as they serve them by educating about health practices and disease prevention. Practical control actions on both government and local level are the first step in preventing the epidemic effectively.
Despite the outbreak’s unexpected and global character, it needs to be addressed competently, even in small communities. The research is essential in battling the pandemic, especially for community health nurses. They provide the population with reliable information concerning the virus and help them deal with it. Hopefully, with more research and clinical experiments, the medicine will come closer to developing a vaccine as soon as possible.
Reference
He, F., Deng, Y., & Li, W. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019: What we know? Journal of Medical Virology, 92(7), 719– 725.