COVID 19

Warm Greetings!

In an already messed up health scenario, entry of a novel coronavirus in the past three months has been extremely dangerous globally. In this article, I would like to give a preview of what coronaviruses are and what makes COVID 19 so deadly as compared to other viruses. Before I begin, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to all the people who have lost their lives to this outbreak.

CRISIS:

COVID 19 which stands for ‘Corona Virus Disease’ has affected more than 90,000 people globally till date and more than 3200 people have lost their lives to it. The outbreak originated in the Hubei province of Wuhan, China and cases have been reported from 80 countries in the world.  In late December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause was reported by health authorities in Wuhan and the initial cases mostly had links to the ‘Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market’ which traces the origin of the virus to be zoonotic. Zoonotic is a term used to address diseases which are caused by either bacteria, viruses or parasites from animals to humans.

CORONAVIRUSES:

COVID 19 is caused by a virus from the family of Coronaviruses.  ‘Corona’ is a latin word which means a ‘crown or a halo’. This refers to the structure of a Coronavirus that looks like a crown because of its protein projections on the outer surface. Following is a photo of a coronavirus;

COVID 19 is caused by a novel coronavirus named as SARS-CoV-2, which is being added to the family but it is quite similar to the coronaviruses found in certain animals like Bats and Pangolins. Coronaviruses usually affect the upper respiratory tract of Humans and hence it is named as SARS-CoV-2. SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome after a similar outbreak that happened in southern China in the year of 2002-2003 by SARS-CoV-1.

HOW DOES A VIRUS OPERATE?

Viruses, in general, are not living things. They just comprise of proteins and genetic material wrapped around a capsule. Viruses cannot replicate on their own and thus need a host (Humans/Animals) to amplify. Coronaviruses have a single stranded RNA as its genetic material accompanied by a number of surface proteins which help them to hijack our immune system and start proliferating by utilizing our own system.

Coronaviruses have a special Spike (S) protein on their surface which binds to a receptor on Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) that plays a vital role in our cardiac function.

So basically viruses tend to affect more in a weakened immune condition. According to China's National Health Commission, most of those who died were older patients – about 80% of deaths recorded were from those over the age of 60, and 75% had pre-existing health conditions including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, thus confirming that viruses do affect more in a weaker immune resistance.

SYMPTOMS OF INFECTION:

The time period between infection and the actual onset of symptoms that show up is around 5-14 days. This time is actually an incubation period of the virus whereby the virus keeps on producing multiple copies of itself and spreads to different cells of the body.

Symptoms that show up are mainly fever, coughing, shortness of breath, sinus congestion, sore throat, muscle weakness and this can worsen further to cause pneumonia and other respiratory infections.

TRANSMISSION:

Coronaviruses are known to be transmitted through air via production of respiratory droplets. People who are infected might expel the virus through such droplets while coughing, sneezing or even talking. These droplets cannot stay much longer in the air but can settle on any type of surfaces. Coronaviruses are known to stay active on a metal, glass or plastic surface for 9 days at room temperature. Scary! Hence the surfaces should be disinfected by 60-70% Ethanol or 0.5% hydrogen peroxide.

PREVENTION:

You must be thinking why I am suggesting preventive measures when I can just reveal a cure for COVID 19. Unfortunately there isn’t any cure as we cannot kill something that isn’t alive in the first place. Apart from this, there are no anti-viral drugs or vaccines against this novel coronavirus yet. The only path of putting the virus back into remission is to adopt healthy practices to strengthen the immune system along with certain precautions to prevent transmission of the virus unintentionally.

MAINTAINING HYGEINE AT ALL TIMES:

In order to prevent further transmission of the virus, one must follow hygienic practices like Hand washing with an alcohol based solvent. People should not touch their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands as it might lead to infection.

People should be wearing Face masks to prevent inhalation of infected droplets in the environment. Face masks are of two main types and based upon the area you live in, you must go for a designated face mask accordingly,

    a)     Surgical Mask – A surgical mask is a disposable medical device that can be bought in pharmacy and that protects against infectious agents transmitted by “droplets.” These droplets can be droplets of saliva or secretions from the upper respiratory tract when the wearer exhales. These masks should not be worn for more than 3 to 8 hours.

But a surgical mask does not protect against “airborne” infectious agents so it will not prevent the wearer from being potentially contaminated by a virus such as the coronavirus.

   b)     Respirator - A respirator is personal protective equipment that prevents the wearer from inhaling aerosols (dust, smoke, mist) as well as vapours or gases (disinfectants, anaesthetic gases) that are health hazards. Unavailable in pharmacy, it protects the wearer from airborne infectious agents i.e. against contamination by a virus such as coronavirus, SARS, H1N1, etc. Example of a respirator would be an N95 respirator.

DIETARY GUIDELINES:

Whenever a virus tries to take over our system, it has to go through our immune cells’ defence mechanism. Viruses try to block Vitamin D receptors (VDR) which is present majorly in our immune cells.

Vitamin D helps in strengthening of our immunity and if one has already low levels of Vitamin D, that person is more susceptible to viral as well as bacterial infections. The RDA levels of Vitamin D per day is just 400-800 IU’s which is way too low for building up any resistance against pathogens. One must go under the sun and get non-burning skin exposure for about 15 minutes and it would provide 20,000 IU’s of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is also anti-viral in nature so it would put the viruses in remission for years.

Consuming certain anti-viral nutrients like Vitamin D, Garlic, Zinc, Monolaurin (an extract from Coconut oil), Selenium (high in Brazil nuts), Oregano, Olive leaf extract, Curcumin, Licorice root, Vitamin E, Fulvic acid and many more would allow oneself to put the viruses into a latent state.

Lastly, there is a strong link between the rates of flu virus with the amount of glucose uptake by the cells. There is a direct relationship between glucose and prolong infection of viruses. If a person stops consuming huge amounts of refined carbohydrates and focuses purely on the above phytonutrients, the viruses would be put into remission.

So I hope I’ve explained the mechanism of action of coronaviruses well and how grave it can be for a person to get infected. Kindly share the information that I’ve shared within your community and friends and let us hope this public emergency gets under control soon.

Thanking You.