This isfor the beautiful people who think the coronaviral disease (Covid-19) pandemicis the wrath of God. No, it is not so. The God actually loves you. The Covid-19is not because of your sins. Internet is full of people who want to assigncaste, region and religion to the virus. But the Covid-19 seems to belong to nocaste, region, or religion. There is ample evidence for that, as it hasaffected people of all castes, regions and religions. It also has affectedsacred places of all religions. Maybe it is a spiritual, I don’t know.
Then whatis it? It is a virus that has been there for centuries. Other members of thisvirus family have been infecting humans for centuries. The infection is usuallymilder and just give rise to common cold symptoms only. Thanks to our immunesystem, the virus is cleared by local immunity of the respiratory tract.
Why isCovid-19 so severe? All flu viruses undergo mutations over time.Microbiologists will know it better (antigenic drift and shift). These changes(mutations) are random. This explains why we get flu many times and why flu vaccineis to be repeated every year. Most often the change is small, not causing muchharm. Sometimes, the change is major. This change is such that the viruschanges its properties. This change makes it more infective and more severe.This happens every few decades. That is why we had regular flu epidemics(Remember SARS 2002 in China and MERS 2012 in Saudi Arabia). If you are expertin microbiology, you can even predict next epidemic.
You canvisualize the virus having keys on surface (surface protein projections). Thesekeys change due to mutations. Sometimes, in decades, the change is such thatthe key on surface is exactly the key that open the lock on our lung cells. Inreference to Covid-19, the lock on our lung cells is called ACE2. When theCovid-19 surface protein (key) opens the lung cell lock (ACE2), it enters thecell, captures it and replicates inside making many new viruses. The cellbursts and releases millions of new viruses. That is why when a person isinfected, it releases so many new viruses. Because we get coughing andsneezing, we distribute it further and new people get infected. Here comes theuse of cough and sneezing etiquettes for prevention of spread of infection.
Thishappens in all flues. But our immune system fights back and localizes theinvasion and ultimately wins the battle. Only a few susceptible individuals getserious illness and very few dies. In case of Covid-19, because it has acquirednew properties due to mutations, our immune system is not ready for the attack.The ability to infect other persons of this virus is high.
However,the advancement of science is amazing. In previous centuries, people were notknowing why they were dying in large numbers. They had no idea what was to bedone. They attributed everything to the wrath of God. Plague used to be theultimate wrath of God. People used to abandon their loved ones for dying inagony. This was rightly so, because there were no treatment and people knewnothing about its transmission. It was all anger of God/gods. When plague wasdiscovered to be caused by a bacterium, called Yersinia pestis and wasdiscovered to be transmitted by fleas. The future epidemics were controlled. Wehave only isolated cases here and there for many decades now.
InDecember, 2019, when Wuhan hospital observed atypical pneumonia cases. Theyimmediately identified the virus. Within a few weeks, the virus was isolatedand its properties studied. This week, Roche company made rapid test forCovid-19 available, which has a capacity to perform 400,000 tests per week.Yesterday, first human trial of vaccine against Covid-19 was initiated inSeattle, USA.
Do you diewith coronaviral disease? No, the probability is extremely low. If you are ahealthy individual and follow scientific precautions, your chances of gettinginfection is very low. Even if you get the infection, there are 90% chancesthat you would get a mild disease and recover. People who suffer from otherchronic diseases, where immune system is compromised, may develop pneumonia. Mostof them will also recover by a medical treatment. A very few will die.
If you area healthy individual, your chance of dying by Covid-19 is less than your chanceof dying while crossing a heavy traffic road carelessly. If you want to makethis probability still less, all you have to do is to follow scientificinstructions as given by authorities. Your authorities don’t tell you toabandon your loved ones and run away, as was norm in the middle ages during anepidemic. They tell you to be at home with your loved ones. Wash hands withsoap and water. No sanitizer or costly equipment is needed. They tell you notto touch your face often. And they tell you when you get the infection, observecough/sneezing etiquettes and social distancing.
So, freeyourself from rumors, relax at home, relish food and chill. And don’t forget toobserve scientific precautions.