Ventilators | Vietnam | COVID-19 test | Polymerase Chain Reaction | Masks | Infectious Diseases

How do COVID-19 tests work?

There are two types of tests carried out. In the U.S, they use long Q-tip to swab the back of your throat. In developed countries such as china, an antibody test may be carried out from the blood sample. The throat swab is well suited for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

PCR test works by detecting specific genetic material within the virus. From the sample, nucleic acid will be extracted, which holds the viral genome. Amplification of certain regions of the genome will be done by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.  A large sample be obtained that is compared to SARS-Cov2. It has 30,000 nucleotides. PCR targets  approximately 100 nucleotides that are specific to SARS-Cov2. These 100 nucleotides include 2 genes in the SARS-Cov2 genome.

A sample is positive if it has both the genes, whereas if both the genes are absent, they are COVID-19 negative. In  Contrast, serological tests look for specific antibodies. If they detect particular antibodies, it is positive. This test has an advantage that it can detect antibodies even the patient gets recovered.

How Vietnam tackled COVID-19?

Vietnam is a densely populated neighbor country of China. It has a low budget for the treatment of coronavirus. In addition to that is has a weak health care system. But somehow they managed to keep the infection rate very low. Vietnam shares 897 miles border with china. But they had 207 cases since the break and no fatalities. During Tet new year, the Vietnam government declared war on the coronavirus. Vietnam does have the capability to fight the outbreak like south Korea.

Ho Chi Minh city’s hospitals have a total of 900 intensive care beds. Based on available resources, Vietnam applied strict quarantine policies. They also tracked different levels of contact with infected persons. These were implemented at an earlier stage. Since the beginning of February, Schools and Universities were closed. Around 3000 businesses have closed in the first two months of 2020.

Does masks really protect form COVID-19?

 Types of masks and respirators

	Face mask ( Cloth or paper masks)	Surgical mask	N95 respirator	Surgical  N95 respirator
Purpose	Prevents  large particles expelled by the wearer from reaching the environment.	To be used as a physical barrier to protect from large droplets of blood or body fluids,	Reduces exposure to very small airborne particles or contaminants. May not protect against sprays and direct liquid splashes.	To be used as a physical barrier from large droplets of blood or body fluids as well as small particles
Filtration efficiency	Not applicable	Bacterial filtration efficiency above 95%	Minimum  95% against  particulate aerosols	Minimum  95% against  particulate aerosols
Fluid resistance	Absent	Yes	Not applicable	yes

Coronavirus: How do ventilators work?

Since COVID-19 mainly affects the lower respiratory tract. Then the illness quickly becomes critical, and the most severe cases must be immediately connected to a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

Artificial respiration can save lives because if breathing stops, the organs are no longer supplied with oxygen. At the same time, the carbon dioxide produced during breathing is no longer exhaled via the lungs. But there is a worldwide lack of equipment.