What makes the coronavirus so good at what it does? How does COVID-19 work? How to protect yourself from SARS-CoV-2.The growth of infections, and the percentage of infected people that need hospitalizations is too high. What makes this virus so different from the cold or the flu?
It’s because this is a mutant hybrid. They are tiny. 100 million would fit on the head of a pin. Each coronavirus particle consists of a small set of genes, enclosed by a coating of protein, and in this case, it’s enclosed in a sphere of fatty lipid molecules. Since they contain genes – RNA , so they can evolve via mutations and natural selection. RNA is less stable than DNA, so they tend to change and evolve faster than DNA viruses.
The evolutionary goal of a virus is to make as many copies of itself as it can. The outer structure of the virus a spiky ball, which recognizes and stick to a protein ACE2, on the surface of some of cells, such as lung and kidney cells. The shape of the spikes allow it to stick more strongly to ACE2, than the classic SARS, and that makes it be more infectious because fewer viruses are needed for transmission.
ACE2 is produced in greater quantities in people with diabetes, so this is a reason that such people are more susceptible to severe COVID-19.
Once a virus sticks to a cell, it allows RNA to enter the cell. Then it hijacks the cell’s protein synthesis in Ribosomes. The cell starts making copies of the virus. When most RNA viruses replicate, it leads to many mutations. Most mutations are bad, and kill the virus. But SARS-CoV-2 virus, has a spell-check mechanism so it can correct errors during the replications process, becoming harder to kill. Once copies are made, they disperse to invade more cells. This triggers an intense immune response from your body. But this reaction swells your tissues in the lungs making it harder to breathe.
Most viruses infect either the upper respiratory tract – the nose, mouth and throat, like the common cold, which makes it very contagious, but mild; Or they infect the lower respiratory tract – your bronchial tubes and lungs, like SARS classic and MERS, where they are less contagious but deadlier. But SARS-CoV-2 infects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts. This makes it not only be more severe, but also highly contagious.
It could also explain why it transmits so easily because it starts off as an upper respiratory infection when people may feel few symptoms, abd thus could be unwittingly spread the virus. It’s only 5-14 days later, that the virus progresses to the lower respiratory tract when people start getting severe symptoms.
Another reason for its higher rates of spread vs. MERS is that when people get the latter, they were more quickly debilitated, so they could not spread the disease. But with coronavirus, people don’t even know that they have it.
They reason coronavirus starts out in your nose, throat or lungs is because they are exposed to the air. Covid19 is not like the flu. Fatality rate is 2.8% vs. 0.13% for flu. Even if 50% of infected people show no symptoms, this is still 10 times more deadly than the flu. Researchers estimate that COVID-19 is about twice more infectious than flu – one person on average affects 3 people, whereas someone with the flu infects 1.6 people. Hospitalization rates for people with COVID-19 is high – 20 percent, compared to 1.4% for flu victims.
The closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 is found in bats, which suggests it originated in a bat, then jumped to humans either directly or through another species like the pangolin. This crossover usually requires multiple genetic mutations. But SARS-CoV-2 appears to not have mutated.
Is this virus man-made? “What are the odds that a random bat virus had exactly the right combination of traits to be the perfect virus to bring down human civilization?” Remember that there are trillions of viruses undergoing billions of mutations all the time. And odds are high that in course of human history, such a virus emerges. Also coronavirus has been analyzed by multiple scientists, and it was found to be naturally occurring.
How do you protect yourself? Antibiotics will not work because they only kill bacteria. But good news, the virus is very fragile. It is only protected by a thin layer of fat. This is why soap and water is the best method to kill it. Soaps and detergents cut the fat. 65% or higher alcohol & Chlorine will also kill the virus but vinegar will not. Heat melts fats, so cook your food.
Coronavirus survives for a day on cardboard, three days on metals and plastics. Also dusting could release the virus in the air allowing it to get into you.
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What about wearing a mask? Only the only N95 mask will work. If you have a mask then wear it. Don’t buy a mask because then you might be taking it away from a health care worker. But this advice is my opinion. Stay home if possible.
