Person-to-person transmission of a new coronavirus is believed have occurred in Japan, and the government has reached the stage of being forced to take new measures.
A man who had never been to Wuhan, China, was found to be infected with the deadly virus. Experts are calling for thorough measures against infection.
"We'll deal with it swiftly," the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official in charge said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The number of patients in Japan is feared to increase in the future now that a case of infection of a person who had never been to Wuhan has been found. In response to this case, the health ministry began to explore reviewing the current application of its surveillance system to detect suspected infections, expanding the scope of the targets. In this system, medical institutions report to public health centers with the aim of achieving an early understanding of unknown infections.
In the case of the coronavirus, the surveillance system was intended only for those who came into contact with a certain category of person -- namely, those who had visited Wuhan within two weeks and had a fever and respiratory problems -- and as a result contracted the same symptoms as the person. The ministry plans to expand the scope of suspected infected individuals because the current standard may miss some of them.
Kazunori Oishi of Toyama Institute of Health, who specializes in infectious illness, said, "It's necessary to review the criteria of the current surveillance so that patients with mild symptoms can also be detected, since there is a time lag after the onset and before the progression of symptoms."
According to a medical report released by China's National Health Commission, some infected people do not show common symptoms of pneumonia, such as fever or cough. The report said that droplets such as those from coughing are "the major route of infection," but the virus can also be transmitted "through contact." The report also compiled the characteristics of symptoms and treatment plans.
To prevent infection, Oishi said: "It's not necessary to worry too much. But, it's better to stay away from crowds more than before, and every possible preventive measure should be taken, such as wearing masks for cough etiquette, washing hands often and using alcohol for sterilization."
Tohoku University Prof. Hitoshi Oshitani, who specializes in virology, said the toxicity of the new virus appears to be much lower than that of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
"The chance is fairly low of a healthy person dying after being infected, but damage would occur to a certain extent," Oshitani said.
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