What is virus?
A virus is submicroscopic infectious agent of small size and with simple composition that multiplies (replicates) only inside of living cells of animals, plants, and microorganisms like fungi bacteria and archaea.
The name virus is from a Latin word meaning slimy liquid or poison.
A virus particle is made up of genetic material (DNA or RNA) housed inside a protein shell or capsid.
The genetic material, or genome, of a virus may consist of single-stranded or double-stranded DNA or RNA and may be linear or circular in form. (www.britannica.com)
Are viruses living things?
No. Viruses are not living things. On their own they can do nothing until they enter a living cell. Without cells, viruses would not be able to multiply.
What size are viruses?
Most viruses vary in diameter from 20 nanometers (nm; 0.0000008 inch) to 250–400 nm. The largest viruses measure about 500 nm in diameter and are about 700–1,000 nm in length. (www.britannica.com)
Why are some viruses dangerous?
When some disease-causing viruses enter host cells, they start making new copies of themselves very quickly, often outpacing the immune system’s production of protective antibodies. Rapid virus production can result in cell death and spread of the virus to nearby cells. Some viruses replicate themselves by integrating into the host cell genome, which can lead to chronic illness or malignant transformation and cancer. (www.britannica.com)
How viruses vector into humans?
Viruses that cause disease usually enter our bodies through the mouth, eyes, nose, or urogenital openings, or through wounds or bites that breach the skin barrier. Viruses can spread—or be transmitted—by several routes. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
One way is through Zoonoses known as Zoonotic diseases.
What are Zoonoses /Zoonotic diseases?
Animals can sometimes carry harmful germs (viruses, bacterial, parasites, and fungi) that can spread to people and cause illness – these are known as zoonotic diseases/zoonoses.
These germs can cause many different types of illnesses in people and animals, ranging from mild to serious illness and even death. Animals can sometimes appear healthy even when they are carrying germs that can make people sick, depending on the zoonotic disease. (www.cdc.gov.com)
Sometimes, the first infected human transmits the infectious agent to at least one other human, who, in turn, infects others.
Direct contact: Coming into contact with the saliva, blood, urine, mucous, feces, or other body fluids of an infected animal.
Indirect Contact: Coming into contact with where animals live and roam and objects or surfaces that have been contaminated with germs. Examples include aquarium tank water, pet habitats, chicken coops, barns, plants, and soil, as well as pet food and water dishes.
Vector-borne: Being bitten by a tick, or an insect like a mosquito or a flea.
Foodborne: Eating or drinking something unsafe, such as unpasteurized (raw) milk, undercooked meat (animal derivatives) or eggs, or raw fruits and vegetables that are contaminated with feces from an infected animal. Contaminated food can cause illness in people and animals, including pets.
Waterborne: Drinking or coming in contact with water that has been contaminated with feces from an infected animal.
Economic interest (Trade): Farming animals and in wet markets where cross contamination can occur between the animals and animals to humans.
Research labs: If proper guidelines are not maintained by the labs, contamination or proliferation may occur between lab animals or research materials and humans.
Is Covid-19 (Corona Virus) a Zoonotic disease?
Yes.
Is virus Covid-19 a hoax?
No. Virus Covid-19 is not a hoax. It’s real. It is going to be here for a while. Please do not believe in any other theories out there.
Did we have any previous Corona virus species outbreaks?
Yes. There are many different corona viruses. Most of them cause illness in animals. 7 types of corona viruses are known to cause illness in humans. However, 3 of the 7 human corona virus infections can be much more severe and have recently caused major outbreaks of deadly pneumonia. (www.msdmanuals.com) (see the chart below for more information)
- SARS-CoV-2: A novel (new) coronavirus known as COVID-19 was identified in 2019.
- MERS-CoV: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was identified in 2012.
- SARS-CoV-1: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was identified in 2002.
Is medicine available to cure COVID-19?
No. Persistent research is ongoing in development of a vaccine.
Do we need to wear masks?
Yes. Masks are very important to mitigate the spreading of virus. If you value yourself and others wear a mask.
A Mask provides protection from the tiny micro droplets (which can fly up to 10 meters) or macro droplets (which can fly up to 2 meters) that exit through nose or mouth when the (symptomatic/asymptomatic bearers) cough or sneeze or talk.
A mask not only protects you from virus by not getting inside of you from other bearers or asymptomatic bearers of the virus through your nose and mouth.
They do protect others from you if you are a bearer or asymptomatic bearer of the virus that might get into others through their eyes, nose and mouth.
Why maintain social distancing?
Yes. Because of the same above mentioned reasons you need to maintain a social distance to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Do we need to wash hands frequently with soap?
Yes. We need to wash our hands with soap to stop the virus spreading. Because, soap dissolves the fat membrane of the virus and virus falls apart and virus becomes inactive as viruses are not alive.
What is pandemic?
Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region that is a continent or the world due to a susceptible population. By definition, a true pandemic causes a high degree of mortality (death).
The word “pandemic” comes from the Greek pan= “all” + demos “people or population” = “pandemos” = “all the people.” A pandemic affects all (nearly all) of the people. (www.medicinenet.com)
Did we have any pandemics earlier?
Yes. Example, The 1918 influenza pandemic (H1N1) was the most severe pandemic in recent history. Please notice the above featured graph for other influenza pandemics in past.
Note: On my own interest (I am not a professional on infectious diseases) the above information has been pooled from various public websites and consolidated for easy access for someone who might be looking for information at one place. Sometimes the above presented matter has been modified for ease of understanding. Sometimes the same matter that is present on the website is presented here as it is. Stay safe.
My heart felt prayers to all those families that have lost someone dear to them. Thank you.
Sources: