Like SARS and the flu, COVID-19 spreads easily through droplets released when infected people cough or sneeze. Early data suggests that the illness is more deadly than seasonal flu. So far, people who are older and those with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease or with compromised immune systems, have a higher risk of death. The data on mortality for COVID-19 remains a moving target and continues to be assessed. The team started by dusting off a plan developed in 2002 for SARS and adapting it to COVID-19 as more information emerged. ![]() In January, they established a virtual incident command center at BJCHealthCare and called twice-weekly meetings to develop a coronavirus outbreak response plan for all BJC hospitals, including hospitals and clinics staffed by Washington University physicians. Warren, MD, a professor of medicine and the medical director for infection prevention at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, did not wait for the virus to start spreading in the U.S. Babcock, MD, a professor of medicine and medical director of the Infection Prevention and Epidemiology Consortium for BJC HealthCare, and David K. Pictured is the team, in 2014, discussing emerging infectious diseases. Warren, MD, are preparing for the possibility of COVID-19 cases in St. Washington University infectious disease physicians (from left) Stephen Y. Once the virus started spreading from person to person in the U.S., it became much, much more complicated.” ![]() “That’s why the efforts to identify and isolate people with the virus were so robust, even though we had such few cases. by knowing where people had traveled,” Lawrence said. “In January and February, we had a brief moment of opportunity to contain this outbreak in the U.S. were believed to be in people who had been infected while traveling in China. By late January, tens of thousands of people in China were infected. It quickly became evident that the 2019 coronavirus strain, named SARS-CoV-2, was more like SARS than the common cold. But in 2002, a newly emerged strain of coronavirus caused an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that killed nearly 1,000 people before it was contained. Coronaviruses typically cause mild infections such as the common cold. Within weeks, Chinese scientists had identified the cause as a never-before-seen member of the coronavirus family. In December, China reported the first cases of a mysterious illness characterized by fever, a dry cough and difficulty breathing. What we can do is be prepared to respond as rapidly as possible when it happens.” The chance of preventing that happening anywhere in the world is probably zero. Such diseases usually arise when an animal virus manages to jump into people because of close contact between people and animals. ![]() “Over the last few decades we’ve had HIV, Ebola, SARS, Zika and now COVID-19. Lawrence, MD, an associate professor of medicine. “New infectious diseases emerge every so often, and we have to be vigilant,” said Steven J. Infectious disease physicians started planning how to respond if a person with suspected exposure to the virus arrived on campus, and researchers set to work finding drugs or vaccines to treat or prevent COVID-19, the name given to the illness caused by the virus. ![]() Louis began preparing for the possibility of an outbreak. Soon after a novel coronavirus first appeared in China in late 2019, researchers, doctors and staff at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis physicians and researchers are preparing for COVID-19 cases and working on drugs and vaccines to fight the disease. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Postdoctoral researchers Brett Case, PhD, (left) and Adam Bailey, MD, PhD, wear full personal protective equipment to study the COVID-19 virus. News Release School of Medicine physicians, researchers tackle coronavirusĬlinical teams ready research for vaccines, drugs underway
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