Question

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Discusion

Initial post should be a minimum of 500 words

Answer 1

Corona Virus Disease-2019(COVID-19) is an infectious disease that causes by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 i.e., SARS. The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan of China and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. As of now, upto 3.42 million cases have been reported across 187 countries and territories, resulting in more than 243,000 deaths. More than 1.09 million people have recovered.

This disease can be called in different ways such as Coronavirus, COVID, 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease, Novel coronavirus pneumonia. Genetic analysis shows that the coronavirus genetically falls under the genus of Betacoronavirus , in subgenus Sarbecovirus together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples.

The lungs are the organs that are mostly affected by COVID‑19 because the virus accesses host cells by using the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme, which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. This disease may also cause respiratory failure through affecting the brainstem as it have been found to invade the central nervous system (CNS).The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as the enzyme ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectalepithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine. Autopsies of people who died of COVID‑19 have found diffuse alveolar damage , and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.

Symptoms includes fever, cough, loss of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, sputum production, and muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea have been observed in varying percentages.Less common symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, or sore throat. Fever is the most common symptom, although some older people and those with other health problems experience fever later in the disease.Some cases in China reports that chest tightness and palpitations may be observed in the initial stages of the disease. A decreased sense of smell or disturbances in taste may occur.
Preventing this infectious disease is mainly by quarantine and self-distancing. The other preventive measures include washing hands with soap and water often and it should be at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands. It is recommended to cover the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available.

There is no vaccine discovered upto now for the disease due to change in the confirmation of its genome and it is reported that the virus genome is changing its confirmation from person to person. Earlier it is expected that Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine drugs can be used as vaccines but it seems to be not good for all the cases. So all we have to do is to stay home,stay fit and stay safe by adapting to the good hygiene and food habits.