MACON, Ga. — Dr. Lance Slade offered up his answers to a few of the questions folks are asking.
Slade is a pediatrician. He has been closely tracking the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Rebecca Mercer reached out to 13WMAZ with a question for him.
Mercer noted that pneumonia can be a complication of the virus, and wanted to know if a pneumonia vaccine existed that could protect against that complication.
"There are pneumonia vaccines that treat some of the bacterial causes of pneumonia," Slade said. "There is a not a vaccine that protects from COVID-19 because it's a viral pneumonia."
It's also important to note, most patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19 do not get pneumonia.
For a wide majority of cases, the CDC says, the symptoms are mild.
According to the Chinese CDC, only about 20 percent of people who are diagnosed need hospitalization.
So, what treatments do exist right now?
"If it's the mild symptoms, we're talking about rest, fluids, treating the fever," Slade said. You know you can treat the cough with cough suppressants like honey, some of those type things."
"Now, when you move to the hospital setting, that's when you're having to do supportive care. Ventilator, oxygen support, depending on how far your respiratory symptoms are. And we're looking at new treatments everyday," he said.
Another question viewers have sent 13WMAZ: Can I let my kid have play dates?
With many young ones now at home, is safe to let them gather with other children?
"That is hard. If you want to talk about true quarantine, we're talking about just our family," Slade said.
For people who are not being asked by a medical provider to quarantine, or self-quarantining because of suspected COVID-19 symptoms, Slade says it's okay in moderation.
"We're saying then if you're not showing symptoms, we're just saying groups of under ten at this point is what they're recommending," he said. "There is a time for that play date or that safe family, just keep it consistent because the more, the wider, our web goes the more we can spread to."
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