A simple virus brings the world to a standstill – The new coronavirus epidemic that has ravaged the world has touched each of us deeply.
We’ve been threatened by viruses before, and there have been pandemics, but the world hasn’t closed its cities and shut down for every new viral infection, nor has it closed its doors for flu season.
So what exactly is this new coronavirus? What is it about its biological makeup that poses a unique threat to our bodies and lives?
Master of disguise
In the initial stages of viral infection, the virus can trick the body.
New coronaviruses can operate rampantly in people’s lungs and respiratory tracts, but the body’s immune system is completely oblivious and still thinks everything is normal.
The virus is so cunning that it can create a lot of virus in the nasal cavity and yet leave the body unresponsive and feeling good,” said Professor Paul Lehner of the University of Cambridge in England. “
Once the cells in our body are hostage to the virus, they release chemicals called “interferons,” which are warning signals to the rest of the body and the immune system.
However, the new coronavirus has an “incredible ability” to turn off this chemical warning in the body, “so great is the ability of the new coronavirus that you have no idea you are sick”, said Professor Raynal.
He said that when you look at cells infected with the virus in the lab, you can’t see that they are infected at all, but the tests show that they are “suffering from the virus”. And that’s just the new coronavirus. And that’s just one of the “Trump cards” played by the new coronavirus.
“Kill and withdraw”
The day before the body feels sick is also the time when the neo-coronavirus is at its peak in the body. But the virus has been active in the body for at least seven days, when the patient needs to be hospitalized.
It’s very sophisticated evolutionary strategy – you don’t need bed rest when you’re infected with a virus, but rather to go out and spend time,” says Professor Raynal. “
In other words, the virus is like a dangerous hit-and-run driver who quickly flees the scene of the crash and moves on to the next victim long before we find it or even die from it.
In plain language, Professor Raynal said, “the New Coronavirus doesn’t care” whether people are dead or alive, “it’s a virus that kills and then goes away.
The New Coronavirus is in stark contrast to the Sars virus of 2002. The Sars virus was most contagious after people became ill, so isolation was much easier.
A new virus that the body is defenseless against
Remember the last global viral pandemic in 2009, when people panicked about swine flu H1N1?
But this virus is not at all as deadly as one might expect, because older people already have certain protective mechanisms in place. This new virus is very similar to viruses that people have encountered before.
There are four other new human coronaviruses that cause common cold and flu symptoms.
Now this new coronavirus is new, so we have no pre-existing immune mechanism against it,” said Professor Tracy Hussell of the University of Manchester. “
Professor Hussell said the virus, formally known as Sars-CoV-2 (Sars-CoV-2), is new in that it is “a powerful shock to the human immune system”.
The body lacks resistance to this new virus, just as when Europeans brought smallpox to the Americas, bringing about the destruction of the indigenous people.
It is difficult for older people to build up immunity to a virus from scratch because their immune systems are already slowing down.
Learning to fight a new infection requires the immune system to keep trying and correcting mistakes.
But as the body produces a less diverse pool of T cells, a core component of the immune system, as the years go by, it becomes increasingly difficult to find cells that can fight off new coronaviruses.
Unusual and unexpected effects on the body
New coronavirus affects the lungs first and can affect the entire body.
Professor Mauro Giacca, of King’s College London, says the new coronavirus is “unique” and “unlike any other common virus that causes disease.
He said the virus doesn’t just kill lung cells, but leaves the lungs necrotic. Infected cells were found to gather in piles that did not function properly, and these necrotic cells appeared to be difficult to eliminate.
Professor Kiaka said that while the lungs can “completely resume functioning” after a severe cold, “this recovery does not occur” after a new coronavirus infection.
It’s an unusual infection,” he said.
Blood clotting is a serious and extremely strange problem in patients with Neovirus, and there are reports that doctors are unable to give patients fluids because the tubes quickly become blocked by clotted blood.
Professor Beverly Hunt of King’s College London said that clotting chemicals found in the blood of some patients with new coronary arteries were 200, 300 or even 400 percent higher than normal.
In my long career as a doctor, I’ve never seen any group of patients with such thick blood,” she said on the BBC’s Inside health.
These effects on the entire body may be due to viral infection of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. This receptor is found throughout the body, including in the blood vessels, liver, kidneys and lungs.
The virus causes inflammation in some patients, which overloads the immune system and causes damage to other parts of the body.
New coronas and obesity
If there is obesity, the new crown causes a more serious condition, and the thicker the waistline the greater the chance of serious illness or even death.
This is also very unusual.
Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, a professor at Cambridge University, said the relationship between New Coronavirus and obesity is something we don’t see in other viral infections of the disease.
The metabolic disruption caused by fat covering every part of the body, including organs such as the liver, appears to trigger more serious consequences when combined with the new coronavirus.
Patients with obesity are more likely to have a high degree of inflammation in their bodies once they are infected with Neocoron, which leads to blood clotting.
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