Over the course of the past two months, a teeny tiny organisms has changed all our lifestyles. That is the coronavirus, but it is not to be confused with COVID-19. The coronavirus is the name given to a group of viruses. These are all illness causing viruses, many of which can be fatal. These viruses are also zoonotic, meaning they can be passed and transmitted between animals and people. Additionally, these viruses cause upper respiratory infections. A few examples of coronaviruses are MERSA, SARS, the common cold and now COVID-19.
COVID-19 spread at an unbelievable rate, and was hence declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. People of any age can be a victim of the virus, those with prior health issues or having poor immunity are more at risk than others. Older people too are at a higher risk.
People who get the virus show quite a few symptoms, the most common being: fever, body ache, dry cough, fatigue, chills, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite, and loss of smell. In some cases, the symptoms of COVID are quite severe such as a high fever, severe cough, and shortness of breath, which often indicates pneumonia. Along with the respiratory problems, victims of COVID are also facing neurological and gastrointestinal (tube through which food is ingested, digested, absorbed and egested) problems.
In a few people with COVID, a cytokine storm has occurred. This is basically an overreaction of the immune system of the body. The immune system basically sends immune messengers, called cytokines, through the bloodstream in a great amount for the threat or much after the threat is no longer one. This causes the body’s own tissues to be attacked by the immune system. This could cause a lot of harm to the body, like causing an exaggerated inflammatory response of several organs, and increase the chances of the formation of a blood clot. These storms are more harmful than COVID itself. Strokes also occur due to COVID, due to the increased amount of clots occurring in the body.
A study published by the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that almost 40-45% of COVID patients could be asymptomatic, meaning not showing any symptoms. This, they say, could result in the virus spreading more than previously estimated due to this silent asset to the virus.
The coronavirus spreads from person to person through droplets that are produced when an infected person sneezes or coughs. These droplets could then land in the mouth or noses of people nearby, thus transmitting the virus. Apart from droplets, an infected person can also produce aerosols, which are basically viral particles generated while speaking or breathing. These aerosols can remain in the air for up to three hours! At this point we are unsure whether the virus can be sexually transmitted.
Although a virus requires a host organism to survive, it can be active outside of the body for hours and although disinfectants, creams and more with a high amount of alcohol are great at diminishing them nothing works better than common soap. This is because the weakest layer of the virus is its lipid or fat layer. Amphiphiles, which are fat-like substances in soap similar to those in the virus. The soap then engages with the lipids in the virus and loosens the ‘glue’ between the virus and the skin.
Writer: Thwishaa Mehta
11/06/2020
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