CORONAVIRUS: The most talk about topic of 2020

After the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan China the virus has spread worldwide. With the confirmed cases reaching almost 1.4 million and one third of the global population being under lockdown the intensity of this virus is nothing to play with. (World of meters , 2020)

COVID-19 is a respiratory virus which besides its unique form is highly transmittable with 50,000 people deceased because of it. (World of meters , 2020) The virus mainly spreads through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes and droplets of saliva or nasal discharge gets released in the atmosphere and enters another human’s organism. (world health organizations, 2020)

Viruses work by getting inside the cells your body is made of and then hijacking them. The coronavirus, officially called Sars-CoV-2, can invade your body when you breathe it in or by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your face. It first infects the cells lining your throat, airways and lungs and turns them into “coronavirus” factories that spew out huge numbers of new viruses that go on to infect yet more cells. At this early stage, you will not be sick and some people may never develop symptoms. This stage is referred as the incubation period and it’s the time between infection and first symptoms appearing which is five days on average. (Gallagher, 2020)

Covid-19 is a mild infection for eight out of 10 people who get it and the core symptoms are dry cough, tiredness and fever. Body aches, sore throat and a headache are all possible, but not guaranteed. The fever, and generally feeling grotty, is a result of your immune system responding to the infection. It has recognized the virus as a hostile invader and signals to the rest of the body something is wrong by releasing chemicals called cytokines. These rally the immune system, but also cause the body aches, pain and fever. The coronavirus cough is initially a dry one (you're not bringing stuff up) and this is probably down to irritation of cells as they become infected by the virus. These symptoms are treated with bed rest, plenty of fluids and paracetamol. You won't need specialist hospital care. This stage lasts about a week - at which point most recover because their immune system has fought off the virus. (Gallagher, 2020)

However, some will develop a more serious form of Covid-19. Older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severly ill virus. (world health organizations, 2020)

It’s important to remember that since this virus is so new and different it needs its own vaccine. To date, there is no specific vaccine or medicine recommended to prevent or treat the virus. The only way to prevent ourselves from catching the virus is staying home as much as possible and frequently washing our hands avoiding contact with our face. (world health organizations, 2020)

In conclusion, COVID-19 is not the first pandemic that has put humanity through hardships but it’s one of the first pandemics that have been so widely broadcasted. Everyone has responsibility on being correctly informed about the virus and on helping by staying stafe.

REFERENCES

• Gallagher, J. (2020, March 14). BBC. retrieved from www.bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51214864
• World health organizations. (2020, April 8). world health organizations. retrieved from www.who.int: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
• World of meters. (2020, April 8). world of meters. retrieved from www.world of meters.info: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?utm_campaign=homeAdvegas1?