CORONAVIRUS: HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOUR BODY?

Coronavirus has claimed around 4,706 lives in India as of today. How exactly does coronavirus infect the body and why has it suddenly become such a great threat?

Well, let's begin by saying that coronavirus causes respiratory infections which means that most of the trouble lies in the fact that it affects the lungs and airways.

We all know that the main symptoms of coronavirus infection to be cough, fever, and trouble in breathing. However, roughly around 3.4 percent (as mentioned by The Daily Mail) of the COVID positive patient's condition gets critical serious when they not treated properly/on time because the mild breathing problems tend to turn into pneumonia, which in medical terms means an illness where the alveoli/air sacs of one or both lungs become filled with fluid or pus leading to difficulty in breathing. 

Among the different kinds of cells in our body, coronavirus mostly affects the goblet cells and ciliated cells. The main purpose of the goblet cells in the respiratory tract is to produce mucus that helps in trapping dirt, bacteria, and other unwanted substances. The ciliated cells, on the other hand, have tiny hair-like projections that help in expelling out the dust and other solid particles that are not supposed to enter the respiratory system. 

The virus affects these cells and starts killing them to support their own multiplication inside the body. 

But if the mucus can trap unwanted bodies in it then how does the virus get past it?

Coronavirus is hardly 120 nm in diameter so it's extremely tiny. It is made up of a capsid or a protein shell that is lined on the outside by glycoprotein spikes which gives the virus a spiked or crown-like appearance, hence the name, coronavirus. This capsid layer holds/ encapsulates the viral genome which is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA (Ribonucleic acid). For all the biology muggles reading this, let me put it this way: Humans have DNA ( double-stranded) as their genetic material while viruses have RNA (single-stranded) as their genetic material. 

The virus binds with the cells of the human respiratory system using a receptor. The binding of the virus fools the cells of the body to believe that the virus is not dangerous and is a part of the body itself. This way the virus is capable of making its way past the body's defenses. It then discharges its genetic material into the cytoplasm of the cell. 

Once inside the cell cytoplasm, the viral RNA takes over the cell and uses the cell's 'DNA replicating machinery' to produce more and more viral RNA thus, turning the cells into a virus replicating factory. 

The virus multiplies inside the cells to produce a huge number of new viruses. The pressure of viral creation ultimately puts the cells in a state of apoptosis or programmed cell death. The cells burst and the viral particles spread out to infect other cells of the respiratory system in the same manner. 

As the virus keeps killing the cells as a part of their replication process, the tissues start collapsing and falling into the lungs to create blockages. It is this blockage that leads to the development of pneumonia in the patients. The blockages (consisting of dead tissues) clog different parts of the lungs and as a reaction, the lungs tend to swell up, producing fluids that cause difficulty in breathing. 

Another way things can get worse is when the body realizes that something is wrong and the immune system generates an Auto-immune reaction to prevent the spreading of the virus inside the body. This means that the immune system starts killing cells of the body that are close to the infected cells in an attempt to prevent the spreading of the virus. The body becomes hyperimmune but unfortunately, the damage by the virus is irreversible and numerous viral copies have already been made that can travel to healthy cells easily.

As the infection progresses, the functions of other internal organs like the liver and kidney may also begin to deteriorate. This may be more like a side effect of the virus. Since the lungs do not function properly, the other organs may be starved of oxygen that they need to function properly thus, leading to organ failure. 

Now, let's understand why the medical authorities and government has been pleading us to take the same measures (social distancing, self- isolation, and sanitization) since the very start of this pandemic:

Since the virus resides and replicates in the respiratory tract, droplets carrying the virus from coughing, sneezing, or even by talking of an infected person may be expelled out into the air. The droplets can travel up to 7 ft distance which is why the main way to keep yourself protected is by practicing social distancing at all times.

The second risk lies in the fact that infected people can easily contaminate their surroundings by touching with infected hands. When you touch these contaminated surfaces like doorknobs, taps, etc, you get contaminated. This is mainly because viruses are neither dead nor alive outside the body of living beings. Viruses are opportunist organisms. The moment they find a medium (living beings) that facilitates their survival, they take over the system. Thus, coronavirus can live on surfaces for several days. 

The virus can easily be killed by disinfectants such as alcohol or bleach. This is why it is recommended to disinfect your hands and surroundings with alcohol-based products (A good alcohol-based product tends to be more watery and not in the form of gel!)

So now that I have created a sense of positive fear in your mind, you would not want to fall prey to this painful biological process that I tried to meticulously explain above. Protect yourself as well as others because every life is valuable. 

Stay tuned for the next blog where I will be talking about the miracle drug Hydroxychloroquine and other ways to strengthen your immune system to fight coronavirus. 

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