Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, infectious disease specialist Viktor Maleev said that we will be able to contain COVID-19 if everyone takes precautions.
Victor Maleev is a recognized expert in the field of epidemiology and clinic of infectious diseases with more than half a century of experience in this area. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and infectious disease specialist Viktor Maleev worked in the foci of dangerous infections such as cholera, plague, anthrax, rickettsioses, hemorrhagic fevers, and atypical pneumonia. It was Viktor Vasilyevich Maleev who helped local doctors in Guinea to prevent the Ebola virus epidemic and advised US epidemiologists in connection with the threat of the anthrax epidemic.
The expert shared with the readers of Komsomolskaya Pravda his rules for the prevention of a new disease - coronavirus. We present them entirely from the first person.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, scientist-microbiologist, Doctor of Medical Sciences Viktor Maleev. Photo: Nikolay Galkin / TASS.
WHAT AM I DOING IN RELATION TO THE IMPENDING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Dear friends!
Surely many people know me - as a specialist who has been dealing with infections all his life: epidemiological relapsing fever, worked on cholera, plague, and Lassa fever. I was one of the first to travel to Guinea in 2014, at the very epicenter of the Ebola virus epidemic, and in 2002 went to China for the SARS epidemic. So I know firsthand what it is. I have worked in all major foci of dangerous infections around the world - I saw leprosy, trachoma, and how it can be resisted. For many years I was the main infectious disease specialist in Russia and now, when the outbreak of coronavirus infection has reached a pandemic, I cannot stand aside.
In Russia, it is possible to contain the spread of coronavirus infection thanks to a whole range of anti-epidemic measures taken. And we will be able to keep it, if each person takes precautions. They are simple but effective, almost the same as we use during the flu and SARS epidemics.
Promotional video:
The spread of coronavirus infection in Russia can be contained by following simple rules. Photo: Sergey Bobylev / TASS.
1) NO HANDSHALES
Use other ways of greeting - a nod or a smile.
During the coronavirus epidemic, Russians should refrain from shaking hands.
2) AVOID CONTACTS
Touch any surfaces only with the back of your hand - to light switches, buttons in the elevator.
Elevator buttons and door handles are potentially hazardous contact surfaces.
It is better to open the door with your elbow or hip. If you need to grasp the handle to open the door, use gloves. Especially important for toilets and doors in public places.
3) DISINFECTION
In stores, be sure to use disinfectant wipes to wipe down the handles and child seats in grocery carts.
Get in the habit of using disinfectant wipes and solutions.
Make it a rule to wipe your hands with a disinfectant solution when you enter an apartment or get into a car. Use it whenever you refuel or touch other contaminated objects and you cannot wash your hands right away.
4) WASH HANDS WITH SOAP
Do this for 10-20 seconds and / or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with more than 60% alcohol whenever you return home from ANY place where other people have been.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, for at least 10 seconds.
5) USE DISPOSABLE WIPES
If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and throw it away IMMEDIATELY. Use your elbow only if there is no other option. The clothes on your elbow will contain an infectious virus that can be transmitted for up to a week or more!
Use disposable wipes when coughing or sneezing. Photo: IVAN PROKHOROV.
6) STAY HOME
If you feel unwell, if you have a fever, symptoms of a respiratory infection - do not be heroic. Stay at home and do not put yourself or the people around you at additional risk!
If you feel unwell, stay home. Photo: OLEG UKLADOV.
Important notes:
But all surfaces where these droplets remain are infectious on average within a week. Therefore, anything associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious.
The virus is on the surface, and you will not get infected if no one coughs or sneezes directly on your unprotected face.
This virus only has cellular receptors for lung cells (it only affects your lungs). The only way to get the virus is through your nose or mouth from your hand, or coughing or sneezing into your nose or mouth.
What you need to have with you:
- Hand sanitizers. These products must be alcohol-based and contain more than 60% alcohol to be effective.
- Disposable surgical masks. Use them to avoid touching your nose and / or mouth (we touch our nose / mouth 90 times a day without knowing it!).
This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung specific.
The mask will not prevent the virus from entering your nose or mouth if you sneeze directly - it will only protect you from touching your nose or mouth.
I hope that we can contain the further spread of the coronavirus and gradually begin to decline. Since this is a virus new to humans, we have no immunity from it. A lot of efforts are being made in the world to understand the genomics, structure, virulence, and other features of this virus. Methods are being sought to combat it. Many scientific institutions are working on the creation of a vaccine and medicine for COVID-19, Russia too.
But while this is not the case, only symptomatic preventive measures remain.
Let's follow them!
And here you can see an interactive online map of the spread of coronavirus.