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Can you get infected with a mosquito bite? And when can we buy sweets again?
TT allowed some children to ask their questions about the coronavirus. Here, Karin Tegmark-Wisell, Head of the Microbiology Department of the Public Health Authority, answers your questions.
Back row: Millie Lyons and Matilda Wåke. Front row: Petter Wåke, Alvin Nygren – Znidar and Thea Alvin Nygren – Znidar.
Question: Can animals be infected by the virus? Can it be dangerous for animals to become infected?
Answer: Yes, they can. A single cat or dog has been found to be infected. But it does not appear to be dangerous to animals.
Question: I have asthma. Would it be more dangerous for me if I became infected?
Answer: If you use your asthma medicine, there doesn’t seem to be any major danger. Children can get sick and have a fever, but they have received very little virus disease.
Question: In other countries they have provisions that everyone must be inside. Why are we allowed to leave when it is not allowed in other countries?
Answer: In different countries you think differently about how to deal with the rules. In Sweden we trust each other. We know that it is important to be away from home. And we hope that everyone, children as adults, will stay away from each other.
Question: How long will this last?
Answer: I wish I knew. But our best guess is that it should calm down during the summer. But that does not mean that everything will be as usual. We must be careful for a while.
Question: Where does the virus come from?
Answer: There are several different types of coronaviruses and they are widely found in bats. As for this disease, which we call covid-19, there is an almost exactly similar virus in bats. We are pretty sure the virus came from the bat. So it may have been in some other animal for a period before it finally reached man.
Question: I heard that corona virus thrives best in cold weather. Will it improve now that it’s summer?
Answer: The virus is spread through tiny droplets that are thrown out when sneezing. The drops last longer when it is dry in the air and when it is cold. Then it also happens that when it is cold we crowd inside. So when we are outside, keep your distance and there is humidity in the air, the spread of infection generally decreases.
Question: I have heard that it is transmitted through fluids and that animals can become infected. Can you get infected from a mosquito bite because mosquitoes suck blood?
Answer: There are no reports of infected mosquitoes. This virus infects the respiratory tract, where it breathes, not in the blood.
Question: About how many in Sweden will become infected?
Answer: We believe there will be many in the end. The virus is highly contagious, but most people become seriously ill. But probably more than half of the population, maybe even more.
Question: If you find a cure, can they be converted so that corona medicine costs a lot of money? Only the rich can enjoy it? Isn’t it going to be really unfair?
Answer: What a good question. Fortunately in Sweden we have a system that says that no matter how much money you have, you must be entitled to medical care, and this is especially true for children. So in Sweden the medicine you need is free for children. But in other countries where you have a different system, it can be a problem.
Question: In Sweden, we are not in quarantine. But in other quarantined countries, many can become infected immediately when they leave the quarantine. What is the reason for quarantining people in that way?
Answer: Different evaluations are made. What these countries hope is that they should learn more about the disease and that they should develop vaccines and medicines. But it will be a long time before it arrives and in Sweden we do not think it is a possible route.
Question: When can you start hugging again?
Answer: I hope you are hugging your family members now. And you can hug those who are the same age as long as you are healthy. But to hug the elderly you have to wait a little longer. Hard to say how long.
Question: When can you buy candy again?
Answer: There is no pact to buy sweets. But be careful. I don’t buy candy myself now, but I think it’s better to buy candy in bags.
Question: Will the virus return next year?
Answer: There is a risk that it will return to winter. These types of viruses often have a pattern that return in the winter. And we believe that it can return many years. In the long term, we will build immunity, protection against the virus.
