Medical Doctor Drops FACTS on Novel Coronavirus in TikTok Video

February 5, 20206 min read

Doctor Dagny Zhu, an eye doctor at NVISION Eye Center, is using TikTok to lay down facts about the novel coronavirus (or 2019-nCoV).

In her TikTok video, Dr. Zhu tried to calm everyone down by comparing the numbers of infected people and the mortality rate of the novel coronavirus to previous pandemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), H5N1 bird flu, and the H1N1 swine flu.

“Facts about Wuhan coronavirus from a Chinese-American doctor,” the doctor wrote in her video.

She listed data gathered by the medical community: the virus has killed 400 people, infected over 20,000, and has a mortality rate of around 2%.

“But we’ve seen deadlier,” Dr. Zhu wrote.

SARS, a virus that originated in China, killed 774 people and infected 8,098 others globally. The virus peaked in 2002 to 2003, affecting many countries, with a mortality rate of 9.6%.

MERS, on the other hand, has a much higher mortality rate of 34.4%, according to the data gathered by the World Health Organization. Over 2,400 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported on the virus as of November 2019. The virus first emerged in September 2012.

H5N1 avian influenza, or commonly referred to as the bird flu, has infected about 861 people in cases reported from 2003 to 2019, according to the WHO. It has killed 455 people and has a mortality rate of 53%.

The H1N1 swine flu is a pandemic known to have killed hundreds of thousands of people. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), citing a study published by The Lancet Infectious Diseases Online, estimated the range of deaths from the 2009 H1N1 influenza to be between 151,700 and 575,400.

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2019 was a year of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. But with those lows came courage, hope, and occasionally, triumph 🙂. Here were some of my highlights from the year: … 1️⃣ Completed my second year as practice owner of one of the busiest eye clinics in Southern California! The overhead for a cataract and laser refractive practice is extraordinarily high (think: multiple mortgages). There was a time I really thought we weren’t going to make it. Would patients trust me? Few LASIK surgeons out there look like me (young and female). But I’ve prided myself on my outcomes, especially the most challenging cases, and let the results speak for themselves. If you’ve ever visited us on a Saturday (with 80+ patients), you will understand how beyond humbled I am. … 2️⃣ Became the first surgeon in Los Angeles to implant the new FDA-approved Panoptix trifocal lens to give patients the best chance of being glasses-free at distance, near, and intermediate. It’s been a game changer for refractive cataract surgery. To date, I’ve implanted almost 100 and am juggling multiple research project ideas. Who said you can’t do research in private practice? … 3️⃣ Continued pushing myself out of my comfort zone by speaking at multiple local and national eye conferences, talking on Chinese radio about eye topics in Mandarin, and completing a Shanghai hospital tour connecting with CEOs of ophthalmic companies, department chairs, and renowned eye surgeons. I’ve always been extremely introverted and self-conscious (speaking in English, let alone Chinese), but was pleasantly surprised at how much more I was capable of. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. The worse that will happen is you’ll continue to improve. … 4️⃣ Became a new homeowner! Nothing signals the beginning of adulthood like home ownership. They don’t tell you about the endless upkeep, taxes, bills, etc. but owning property is a dream come true for this immigrant girl and her single mom. … For every one of those achievements, there were probably 10 or so setbacks; but I truly believe each failure takes us one step closer to where we want to be. Let’s SHINE together🌟in 2020! Share some of your highlights with me👇🏻

A post shared by Dr. Dagny Zhu, MD (@dzeyemd) on Jan 6, 2020 at 10:20am PST

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“Luckily all of these viruses eventually disappeared except the seasonal flu, which infects millions and kills 500,000 every year,” the doctor said in her video. “All our lives we’ve lived amongst contagious deadly viruses.”

She reminds everyone to wash their hands and not touch their eyes, nose, and mouth, and get the flu vaccine.

“Stop the panic and blame game and be kind,” she wrote to end her short clip.

Feature Image via @dzeyemd

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