Let’s talk about viruses. As we have this coronavirus situation happening right now which is affecting all of our lives, we want to get a better understanding of what viruses are and how they are affecting the human body.
Viruses have been around for billions of years. They are the most adaptable organisms on the planet.
This coronavirus is an RNA virus. It has a protein coat surrounding it, in a fatty envelope.
In order for viruses to survive they need a host. They need to get into the cell of the host in order to replicate. Viral particles bud off host cell to infect other cells.
This virus primarily affects the respiratory system, the lungs. The virus will start the body through the lungs, replicate in the cells of the lungs, viral particles will bud off and spread through respiratory droplets, though coughing and sneezing, through direct contact with the body secretions, in order for the virus to spread and try to find new hosts.
This virus relatively long on most surfaces. That’s what makes this virus more virulent or more virus producing, as a person touches a doorknob then touches their mouth or face and they have exposure to the virus. That’s why social distancing and proper disinfecting will help to decrease the spread of this virus.
Since the virus is an RNA virus, it is continuously recombining its genome. This means it is constantly changing and adapting to its environment and to immune responses. So this virus is constantly changing, like all viruses.
This coronavirus is able to gain access to the body through ACE-2 receptors. We have a number of these ACE-2 receptors in our lungs, respiratory tract, kidneys, heart, vascular system, GI tract. Making these target areas for this virus. This also means that people who are on ACE inhibitor medications for high blood pressure, they are at higher risk of having an ill effect to this virus, because when you are on those ACE inhibitor medications, these medications up-regulate your ACE-2 receptors. This means they’ll have more receptor sites for this virus. If you are on an ACE inhibitor medication, social distancing is extremely important to decrease the chance of coming in contact with this virus.
