The trending topic nowadays worldwide is the coronavirus. So here I bring to you what all you need to know about novel coronavirus.
General Overview
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses including seven different versions of viruses. These viruses generally cause diseases in animals, especially respiratory diseases. These viruses can cause healthcare issues ranging from the common cold to even serious illnesses. Currently, the world is facing the COVID-19 virus which is also a part of these seven viruses of the family. Two other coronaviruses – Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) – are much more severe, having killed more than 1,500 people between them since 2002.
Coronaviruses are circulating in animals and some of these coronaviruses have the capability of transmitting between animals and humans. According to scientists, the coronavirus has mutated into two streams one more aggressive than the other, which could make developing a vaccine more complicated. This mutation led to the birth of COVID-19. Generally, when one has an infection related to cough and cold due to viruses, the virus present in his body has 75% of normal virus bodies and 25% of these coronavirus virus bodies. But, the mutation of gene made COVID -19 a new virus for which the human body has no antibodies. Thus it is also difficult for external antibiotics or vaccines to fight against COVID- 19 easily.
What actually is CoronaVirus?
If we look at its structure then, Coronavirus has RNA as its genetic material that can reproduce itself. The virus has a capsule as an envelope on its surface and then the spikes which form a crown giving it the name Corona.
Coronavirus Disease first spread out in China in 2019. COVID -19 thus got its name as Corona Virus Disease In 2019. The latest official and scientific name given to it by WHO is SARS-CoV-2 as it is the second generation daughter virus of SARS. This name is important as the first coronavirus disease was SARS which gave the scientists and the doctors a headstart since 2003,2004,2005 to fully understand the Coronavirus Family.
The name of the virus is SARS-CoV-2 and the disease caused by it is COVID-19.
In this era of advanced technology, supercomputers, genomics, and bioinformatics, it is easier for scientists to understand the working of the 1000 times stronger mutation of the virus and analyze how contagious it is.
How Coronavirus was started?
Some people pointed out that this virus has been developed by China using their ancient literature to control their population and some various crazy conspiracy theories also say that the virus somehow escaped from a Chinese lab, either by accident or design. However, this is categorically untrue as there is no strong proof against it and scientists studying its genetic code have linked it to bats. It probably then jumped to another animal, which passed it on to humans.
The number of diseases crossing from animals to humans is growing, and teams of virus hunters are tracking them down.
Some even say that the Death toll issued by China is not accurate and they assume it to be nearly 25,000 (as per 6 Feb 2020 according to Times of India).
But, there is no official statement regarding this and hence this cannot be assumed to be perfectly true. Still, it is a valid point that should be thought on, discussed and clarified. If this is true and if ever the actual figures come out, it will shock the world. This is considered to be a step of historic coverup of millions, a massive population reduction in China.
How did the outbreak start?
The source of the coronavirus is believed to be a “wet market” in Wuhan which sold both dead and live animals including fish and birds.
Such markets pose a heightened risk of viruses jumping from animals to humans because hygiene standards are difficult to maintain if live animals are being kept and butchered on-site.
The animal source of the latest outbreak has not yet been identified, but the original host is thought to be bats. Bats were not sold at the Wuhan market but may have infected live chickens or other animals sold there. Bats are also a source of a variety of zoonotic viruses including Ebola, rabies, etc.
Unusually for a virus that has made the jump from one species to another, it appears to transmit effectively in humans – current estimates show that without strong containment measures the average person who catches COVID-19 will pass it on to two others. This virus breakout is pandemic.
How can it spread?
The virus is spread via droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. The nanoparticles of the virus form droplets which land on surfaces and then are picked up on the hands of others and eventually spread further. People catch the virus when they touch their infected hands to their mouth, nose or eyes. It is not airborne. An infected person has the ability to contaminate other 2.6 people around him per cycle. It spreads exponentially.
The virus also appears to have a higher mortality rate than common illnesses. According to sources, it can stay alive on metal for 12 hours, on cloth for 9 hours and on the human body for 10 minutes. But once infected, the virus may saty alive in your body for up to 30 days.
An infected person shows the symptoms in 0 to 14 days. The symptoms may be fever, fatigue, dry cough, tiredness, chest pain and congestion. But the virus only attacks if it reaches the lungs of the human, thus it is suggested to drink warm water throughout the day so that if it is present in your throat in will move on to your stomach where it will get killed.
How Does The Virus Attack the Host Body?
When a person(host) gets in contact with the virus that is the virus lies on the hand of the person, the virus tries to reach the lungs of the host. Eventually what happens is that it actually hijacks mainly those ACE 2 receptors which are present on the alveolar cells of the lungs. This receptor plays the role of the entry point of the virus to the host body cells. This ACE 2 receptor is actually present on various parts of the body like blood vessels, kidneys, and even heart and on lungs, it plays the role of protecting the crucial cells and lung tissues from injuries.
Now the spikes of the virus find a way of interacting with the receptor and enter into the cell. Now the virus infects the cell and uses it as its factory. The virus’s body breaks and the RNA is distributed. The virus infects the Golgi complex of that cell and makes it work on the reproduction, re-distribution, and the packaging of the virus body and thus propagates in the host body. Thus the host now has a factory of virus body in him and hence can contaminate those who are around him.
What are the Major Symptoms?
Doctors are still working to understand the full scope of symptoms and severity for COVID-19, but early studies of patients taken to the hospital found nearly all of them developed a fever and dry cough, and many had fatigue and muscle aches. Pneumonia (lung infection) is common in coronavirus patients, even outside the most severe cases, and this can lead to breathing difficulties. A runny nose and sore throat are far less common. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell. These symptoms are similar to other respiratory diseases including flu and the common cold. So the only way to confirm if you are infected by the virus is getting tested.
Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. However, around one out of every six people becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing.
Older people, young children and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems, lung complaints or diabetes are more likely to develop severe or critical illness.
Precautions…
- Wash hands with soap frequently at least for 20 seconds
- Avoid public gatherings and visiting public places
- Maintain self-isolation and social distancing
- Avoid touching face i.e. eyes, nose and mouth frequently
- Practice self and respiratory hygiene
- Use mask and gloves if you visit some public place or go out of your house
- If you feel you have any of the above-mentioned symptoms, seek medical care
Why Isolate?
What actually isolation of sick people or the suspects is that with protected measures to keep them in a safe condition and not in a hospital so that the healthcare facilities can be used in their full capacity for those patients who are seriously ill, inevitable and in severe, critical conditions.
Self-isolating on identifying symptoms in you even before you get it confirmed by the test will help in the extinction of this virus as it will not be able to propagate to others and will eventually die even in you if you follow all the precautions.
Hope for a Cure!
The community of scientists all around the globe is continuously working to find a possible treatment or a vaccine for this deadly disease. Still, the development of the vaccine will take time as it needs to be tested several times to check for its effectiveness in order to provide complete protection.
The treatment for those who are already ill is quite is to be developed. This is so as the scientists have actually understood how the virus works and they can eventually develop something to prevent its functioning. We already see many recovering from this disease. Possible treatments include blocking the virus entry through the ACE 2 receptor, blocking the reproduction of virus using the Golgi Complex present in humans, blocking the endosomal packaging of the virus cells, or killing the factories of the virus they set up in the host body. The scientists and the doctors are already working on these treatment methods and have found out some positive results.
WHO Myth Busters
- Cold weather and snow cannot kill it
- It can be transmitted in areas with a hot and humid climate.
- Taking a hot bath does not prevent it
- It cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites
- Hand/Hair Dryers cannot kill it
- UV lamps cannot kill it
- Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever
- Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body
- Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus.
- There is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the new coronavirus.
- There is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent respiratory infections.
- Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.
- People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.
- Antibiotics do not work against viruses
- To date, there is no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus
Learn More !
The World Health Organisation has released a messaging service on WhatsApp to deliver authentic updates and news about the outbreak. Tap the button below to get started.
I highly recommend that you all watch the video (link attached below) seriously and carefully to actually understand how the virus works. It shows in an animated way which is quite easy to understand.