Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, has seen the number of new infections declining and that of recovered patients growing steadily after more than two months of arduous battle against the virus.
Cao Zhaolong, the director at the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Peking University People's Hospital, was dispatched to work on the front line in Wuhan early last month. He shared some valuable observations about the epidemic with CGTN.
1. What did you learn from the virus? How does it attack our bodies?
The novel coronavirus affects the whole body, mostly affecting the lungs, with symptoms largely similar to pneumonia. It also affects the heart, kidneys, liver and circulatory system.
A drop in the number of white blood cells, especially the reduction of lymphocytes, is very common among people who have contracted the virus. A decrease in the absolute value of lymphocytes, especially a progressive decline, can highlight the patient's poor condition.
The virus also affects the clotting system, as well as the central nervous system.
2. Should those discharged from hospital be worried about their lungs long term?
The coronavirus mainly attacks the lungs, so patients' lungs will be affected. They will feel a shortness of breath after exercising, as they will have pulmonary fibrosis.
But pulmonary fibrosis does not persist. After a few years, it will gradually improve, and lung function will also get better. So, there's no need to worry too much about that.
3. What advice do you have for medical staff overseas in terms of treatment and protection?
After two months of fighting the coronavirus, we think protection is important. Goggles, protective clothing and N95 masks are all required, which can provide medical staff with effective protection.
Regarding treatment, foreign countries may not have traditional Chinese medicine, but Remdesivir may help shorten a patient's course of illness if it is administered within a week of the onset of the disease. China will get results from its clinical trial analysis of Remdesivir in late April.
Anti-influenza drugs, such as Ribavirin and Arbidol, don't have a definitive effect, so I don't recommend anti-influenza drugs to treat the coronavirus.
4. Some medical workers have contracted the virus. Is the situation in Wuhan getting better?
During the early stage of the outbreak, a lot of medical workers were infected. I think it might have been because they were not very well protected and didn't know enough about the infectiousness of the disease.
Our protection measures have been in place since the national medical team and teams from various provinces and cities arrived in Wuhan. So, I have not heard of any member from my hospital being infected. As long as we know the disease well enough and protect ourselves, the chance of being infected is low.