Welcome to episode 394 of The Paleo View. (0:40)
This week Stacy and Sarah thought it would be good to discuss what you can do to prepare yourself for the incoming coronavirus.
Stacy and Sarah will focus on how we can become educated on what this virus is and what we can do to protect our health and the health of our loved ones.
It is going to get a little scientific, but the goal is to give listeners solution-oriented ideas to move forward with.
One of the challenges that we have right now with covid-19 is that there are a lot of unknowns.
This episode is being recorded on Tuesday, March 3, and Sarah is going to present on the latest science available through that point.
The goal of this show is to cut through the hype and fear.
Sarah wants to provide listeners with science-based information and action steps for preparation.
Specifically, the focus is going to be on diet and lifestyle things that you can do to support your immune system.
Sarah's inbox has been flooded on questions around covid-19.
In response, Sarah has decided to put together a free e-lecture series called Immune Health on a Budget.
It will be available on March 25.
However, you can sign up now to make sure you have access to that once available.
 
What is covid-19?
Covid-19 is the name of the illness that is caused by this new novel coronavirus.
The virus has been named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.
This virus has been called SARS-CoV-2.
It is an RNA virus.
Some of the symptoms are from our immune system activation, and some are from the damage being caused by the high viral load.
Where this came from will be more fully understood in time.
This one appears to be zoonotic.
It likely originated in chrysanthemum bats and passed onto humans via pangolin. 
The very good news is that this virus is not mutating very quickly.
It makes it easier for studies to conduct research since it is not a moving target.
 
The Symptoms
Something like 80% of people who get covid-19 get what is like a mild head cold. (8:54)
There is already some evidence that there are people who can be completely asymptomatic.
The vast majority of cases are mild.
83 to 90% of patients who seek medical care have a fever.
46 to 82% have a cough.
31% have shortness of breath.
11 to 44% have fatigue or muscle pain.
There have been some other symptoms reported without a good idea of their frequency.
These are sore throat (especially early on), abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Low white blood cell count is common, and also elevated liver enzymes.
In the severe course of the disease, this is causing viral pneumonia.
Most of the data that we have is out of China, and we can expect these results to look fairly different when covid-19 hits other countries.
This is preliminary data that will change in the days and weeks to come.
 
Vulnerable Populations
Older patients appear to be more vulnerable to the disease. (13:05)
The median age of the infected is in the 50's.
The median age of the people who have succumbed to covid-19 is around 70 and typically have had other chronic health problems.
These health problems include diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
23 to 32% of patients have a severe course (viral pneumonia) requiring intensive care for respiratory support.
This is likely an overestimation because the minor and asymptomatic cases are not being counted very well in most places.
Similar to H1-N1 in 2009, the preliminary data looked scarier than it turned out to be.
Among those patients that were hospitalized for viral pneumonia from covid-19 in China, there is about a 4 to 15% mortality rate.
The overall mortality rate is estimated at around 2%.
This is very likely to change since mild cases are not being accounted for very well.
It is very important to understand where these numbers are from and how they are likely to change.
 
Transmission
The incubation period ranges from 1 to 14 days.
Although recent case reports suggest that the incubation period may be