Recently, a video clip of Wang Fusheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, answering “self-limiting disease” has been widely circulated on the Internet. In the past, therefore, no treatment was required, and no prevention and control was required.

A reporter from Science and Technology Daily found that this video came from a press conference on the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held at the State Council Information Office on February 21, 2020. When answering the reporter’s question, Wang Fusheng made it clear that self-limiting disease does not mean that it is unnecessary. treat.
This popular science question and answer about “self-limiting diseases” more than two years ago has attracted attention recently, but it has been nearly three years since the outbreak of COVID-19 pneumonia, and human beings have a deeper understanding of the COVID-19 virus. Does it still apply? Is COVID-19 virus infection a self-limiting disease? If so, why do you still need treatment, and is it quite recoverable? With these questions, reporters from Science and Technology Daily interviewed relevant experts.

Is COVID-19 virus infection self-limiting?

Many experts interviewed by Science and Technology Daily reporters said that there is no strict medical definition of self-limiting diseases. Generally self-limited disease does not appear chronic disease, generally mild.
Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Peking University First Hospital, said that from an etiological point of view, the COVID-19 virus infection does not currently appear to have chronic diseases, indicating that it can be cleared by the immune system in the body, so it is self-limiting.
According to the current research and understanding of the COVID-19 virus, Guo Wei, deputy director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, believes that the COVID-19 virus has not been found to be integrated into the human genome, nor has it been found that the virus can exist in a certain organ for a long time. In this sense, the COVID-19 virus is self-limiting.
However, Wang Guiqiang also pointed out that the human body damage directly caused by the COVID-19 virus can be “self-limited”, but the associated harm caused by it is difficult to “self-limit”, and standardized treatment is still required.
“Currently, a small number of patients infected with the COVID-19 virus will have their condition worsened. If they have underlying diseases, they will be combined with other symptoms, resulting in severe illness or even death.” Wang Guiqiang said.

Why do I need to be quarantined and observed in a timely manner after being infected with the COVID-19 virus?

Since it is a self-limiting disease, why does COVID-19 virus infection still require timely isolation, observation and symptomatic treatment?
Severe and fatal cases show that the damage to organs caused by the COVID-19 virus is difficult to “self-limit” and requires prompt treatment. Tong Yigang, dean of the School of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, also believes that for certain groups of people, COVID-19 pneumonia may be a very dangerous disease with a risk of death.
“The COVID-19 virus is highly contagious, and infected cases require observation and care. On the one hand, isolation observation and symptomatic treatment can block the spread of the virus in time, and on the other hand, it is convenient for real-time observation to avoid deterioration of the condition.” Wang Guiqiang emphasized that once infected with COVID-19, -19 virus, it is necessary to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time.
Therefore, in the process of diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, my country has been implementing classified treatment. According to the “New Coronary Virus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (Trial Version 9)”, symptomatic treatment and condition monitoring should be carried out for mild cases. If the condition worsens, they should be transferred to designated hospitals for treatment. Focus on treatment.
“Once infected with the COVID-19 virus, effective isolation will avoid the risk of further spread, which is the key to the prevention and control of infectious diseases.” Wang Guiqiang said that although the COVID-19 pneumonia infection is a self-limiting disease, it is still difficult for people at high risk of severe illness. To intervene as early as possible to reduce the risk of severe illness and death, it is very wrong to think that “COVID-19 infection is a self-limited disease that does not need to go to the hospital, just stay at home and pass.”

Common self-limiting diseases such as hepatitis A, influenza, and measles require treatment

Guo Wei said: “General viral infections are mostly self-limiting. For example, hepatitis A virus, influenza virus, measles virus, etc., all meet the definition of self-limiting, but they all require treatment.”
“It’s not that there are fewer ‘self-limiting’ viruses, but because the human immune system has a strong ability to clear it.” Guo Wei said, with the exception of hepatitis B virus and HIV, whose genes can be integrated with human DNA to escape the immune system , causing chronic infection. The hepatitis C virus can even hide in human liver cells.
“Influenza virus is a typical self-limiting disease, but it also needs treatment.” Wang Guiqiang said that through real-time observation and targeted treatment, the virus can be removed from the body as soon as possible, in order to avoid it from destroying the body’s balance state and inducing organ failure, etc. severe symptoms.