Do we have to worry about the new coronavirus?

We all have seen the news after the Wuhan coronavirus was discovered and started to spread around the world. It will not take long before we will see very interesting scientific and epidemiological articles about this virus. For me it is another manifestation of a global world. National or territorial thinking will not contain or control them.

Because of the rapid development, the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a Global Emergency. I cannot blame the authorities for applying the precautionary principle and err on the side of caution!

There is so much concern, that we see all kind of drastic measures being taken:

• Isolating the Wuhan population
• Flight restrictions
• Quarantining returned foreigners in home countries
• Health checks at borders
• And much more

There is a good website from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore that shows a real time map of the spread of this virus.

The Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association recently stated: “Based on strict screening procedures for plasma donors and the established processes of virus inactivation and removal during manufacturing of plasma-derived products, PPTA concludes that the 2019-nCoV is not a concern for the safety margins of plasma protein therapies manufactured by PPTA member companies.

News outlets frequently mention the Wuhan Coronavirus and SARS and other coronaviruses. This group elicit an outsized feeling of alarm from populations. This is very understandable. To put it in perspective, this season more than 10,000 persons died and more than 180,000 were hospitalized because of influenza in the USA alone!

Jan M Bult
February 2020