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Zhong Nanshan: “people should be highly vigilant to fecal-oral transmission.”
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Zhong Nanshan: “people should be highly vigilant to fecal-oral transmission.”

New coronaviruses have recently been found in the stools of patients diagnosed in Wuhan and Shenzhen. In this regard, Zhong Nanshan, the leader of the high-level expert group of the National Health and Health Commission, said yesterday that the when encountering feces, people should be more vigilant, especially considering that some provinces and autonomous regions, including Hubei, have the habit of using toilets. At a news conference of the Guangdong Provincial Government in the afternoon on February 2nd, Hou Jinlin, a member of the Guangdong expert group as well as the director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Southern Hospital of Southern Medical University, said that the above study was based on the data of the stools from some severe-ill patients. Care should be given whether feces are one of the ways of transmission.

 

At the news conference of the Guangdong Provincial Government’s Information office on February 2nd, data from the Guangdong Provincial Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters showed that twenty-eight cases were newly diagnosed in the province and eleven cases were freshly added in Shenzhen.

 

More than 200 confirmed cases in Shenzhen

So far, the number of confirmed cases in Shenzhen has reached 207. They are exceeding 200 for the first time, which is still the highest in the province. Besides, 179 cases were confirmed in Guangzhou. A total of 386 cases were reported in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which is more than 60% of the total in the province.

 

Chen Zhusheng, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Health and Health Committee, said that the current epidemic is still severe. Nationally, the number of confirmed cases continues to rise, and the scope is still expanding. The outbreak in Guangdong is still dominated by Hubei or Hubei-related cases, which is in a period of rapid growth. With the increase in the number of people returning to work after the Spring Festival or going back to school, the risk of community transmission is high. Epidemic prevention and control have entered a critical period.

 

Experts: Guangdong is leading in monitoring the epidemic.

In addition to national-level guidance, Guangdong Province has also issued more than thirty detailed guidelines for including cities, towns, rail transit, joint checkpoints, migrant workers, catering and other industries.

 

He Jianxing, a member of Zhong Nanshan’s team and director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, said that Guangdong’s measures and efforts are leading in the country, especially in terms of monitoring and investigation.

 

He Jianxing said, “Guangdong conducted a large-scale investigation of three key groups of people, and make sure that the relevant people were isolated, including close contacts, people from Hubei who came to Guangdong, and people who had abnormal fever diagnoses. This nation-leading measure and give the public peace of mind.”

 

“Virus transmission through physical touch is minimal.”

From February 1st, the new coronavirus may spread through the feces, and this issue has drawn public attention. On February 2nd, Zhong Nanshan said in Guangzhou in response to media concerns that this issue deserves high vigilance. He said that according to the investigation, the number of people who have been infected with the virus through the stool should be investigated step-by-step. No virus was found in the urine, but it should be noted that the stool may transmit the virus. In Hubei, Jiangxi and other places, there is also the habit of using stools among people, and they are also cleaned in fishponds, so attention must be paid to prevention and control.

 

Also, Hou Jinlin, a member of the Guangdong expert team who just came out of the front line to attend the press conference on February 2nd, as well as the director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Southern Hospital of Southern Medical University, said that knowledge about the ways of transmission is essential. For example, droplet infection is an important way of transmission of the virus. In addition, in response to many recent claims on contact transmission, he said that transmission through physical contact is very limited as transmission through physical touch requires a large number of viruses and mucosal damage.   

 

As for the digestive tract transmission method of fecal-oral transmission, Hou Jinlin said that the detection of the virus in the stool is a vital clue, but it is very cautious to determine whether it is a way of transmission. “This study was carried out on inpatients who were severely ill. Feces were extracted from them; however, they had immunodeficiency, and their organs had been damaged. With this discovery, it is important, but we must be careful.”

 

What is “fecal-oral transmission”?

The decal-oral route refers to how infectious disease is transmitted and is also named the digestive tract. The pathogens of some contagious disease can survive in the stool, so that they can be transmitted through the feces went through the digestive tract. I these stools with pathogens contaminate hands or food, the virus will enter the mouth and cause the transmission to others. --- China News Service 

WenweipoHanpeng Wang

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