The disease caused by the new type of coronavirus, which started in China in December 2019 and then spread to Europe and the whole world, has become an important health problem for the whole world. The agent has been isolated as the new coronavirus 2019 (2019 nCoV). World Health Organization Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has also named the disease it causes as COVID-19. The virus is from the same family as the virus that causes SARS and MERS, but it has a longer infectious period.
SARS. -CoV-2 is genetically highly similar to SARS-CoV, which caused the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, and the coronavirus found in bats. SARS-CoV-2, which is thought to have formed as a result of a new mutation, affects the lungs, heart, kidneys, small intestine and urinary bladder. It enters the cell and causes disease through the ACE2 receptors in the cells.
COVID-19, which is highly contagious, is transmitted by droplets and direct contact. The average incubation period is 5.5 days, but it can last up to 14 days. The most common symptom in symptomatic cases is Fever, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat and dry cough. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are less common. 91% of hospitalizations are caused by lung infection, 3.4% by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 1.1% by shock. Respirator The risk of death is quite high in patients who need it. The disease is more severe in the elderly, hypertension, heart disease, diabetics and cancer patients.
The death rate in COVID-19 infection increases with age, accompanied by cardiovascular disease, diabetes, The risk increases in patients with chronic bronchitis, hypertension and cancer.
COVID-19 causes disease in the respiratory system and may result in direct or indirect cardiovascular complications such as inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), rhythm disturbances, and clot formation in the veins. In addition, Plaquenil and azithromycin used in the treatment of COVID-19 increase the risk of arrhythmia.
As a result, the infection can directly affect the cardiovascular system and the infection is more severe in the presence of cardiovascular disease. Elderly individuals with hypertension and cardiovascular disease Ensuring social isolation is possible unless there are life-threatening emergencies. They should be kept away from hospitals as much as possible.
When patients who died from COVID-19 are examined, the most common accompanying diseases are hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart diseases, atrial fibrillation, chronic bronchitis and cancer. As with all flu infections, COVID-19 The disease also progresses more severely in the elderly. When studies conducted in China and Europe are examined, hypertension seems to both increase the risk of contracting the disease and cause it to progress more severely. Considering that the frequency of hypertension increases with age, these studies actually show the prevalence of hypertension in that society.
Theories have been put forward that some drugs used in hypertension and heart failure may increase the level of ACE2 receptors that the virus uses when entering the cell, which may eventually increase the risk of the disease and cause a more severe course. However, studies have shown that these drugs may increase the level of ACE2 receptors that the virus uses as an entry gate into the human body. It has been determined that it does not make any changes. It is not recommended for patients taking these drugs to stop taking them to protect themselves from the disease and to end the bad course of COVID 19 disease.
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