Author: TheConversation

By Tom Duszynski, Director Epidemiology Education, Indiana University The spread of the new coronavirus, which has infected over 80,000 people worldwide and resulted in the death of more than 3,000, has raised alarms around the world. At the same time, the seasonal influenza, known as the flu, causes severe illness in between 3 million and 5 million people, with hundreds of thousands of deaths every year worldwide. With so many fewer cases than the flu, what explains the dramatic response to COVID-19 and worry around the globe? And how would a person know whether seasonal influenza-like symptoms are COVID-19?...

By Michelle Sconce Massaquoi, Doctoral Candidate in Microbiology, University of Oregon As the threat from the coronavirus grows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials are stressing the importance of hand-washing. Prevention becomes essential to stopping the spread of the virus because there is no vaccine to prevent it and no anti-virals to treat it. How can such a simple, low-tech solution make a difference? Remember – coronavirus spreads easily by droplets from breathing, coughing and sneezing. As our hands touch many surfaces, they can pick up microbes, including viruses. Then by touching contaminated...

By Mari Webel, Assistant Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh Stop calling the novel coronavirus outbreak the “Wuhan coronavirus,” and start getting comfortable with “COVID-19.” That is the World Health Organization’s recommended name for the disease. While identifying a new disease by its place of origin seems intuitive, history demonstrates that doing so can harm the people who live there. Consequences can include economic distress, as tourists withdraw, investment cools down and solidarities between people weaken. Linking a specific disease with a specific place can lead to discrimination and stigmatization and avoidance of a town or village. As a...