It’s Just A Virus 🦠

Viral infections are in the news these days.  There has been a lot of controversy over what if anything we should do about COVID19.  Although contagion is always concerning, a few very basic concepts about a virus can help clarify anyone's decision about what you can do if you decide to do it. A virus particle is incapable of reproducing on it's own.  If left alone, it simply dies.  It cannot reproduce in the presence of other virus particles, no matter how many.  A virus cannot grow on inanimate surfaces.  In order to reproduce, a virus literally must hijack a living cell and use the chemical machinery of that cell to produce replicas of itself.  Viral infections literally can't live without us.  A host is necessary in order to replicate the RNA of a virus. Once a virus reaches a host (you or me) it is able to enter cells and replicate rapidly.  Upon entering a cell, the virus replicates, ruptures the cell, and then spreads to other cells.  Due to the millions of replications that take place, mistakes in replication can happen, and sometimes this can result in a different virus.  The new virus can be more harmful or less harmful than the original, but it too can become contagious and replicate and infect a host and spread as a disease.  Because of how simple a virus is, and because of how many times it replicates, the rate of mutation is rather rapid compared to a complex organism such as bacteria. One of the advantages of slowing or reducing the spread of a viral illness is that you can also slow the rate of mutation.  Over time, if enough contagion is avoided this could actually avoid a future and far more harmful infection. At the very least you have lengthened the time before a more harmful mutation occurs.  Roll the dice on a future killer?  Up to you. As we have learned, there is a period of time when you may actually spread the virus to others even when you have no symptoms.  As the number of virus particles in your body increases, disease symptoms increase, but you can carry the virus to others before you actually get ill from the virus, and even without ever knowing you carry it. Spreading a virus is far from inevitable.  Quarantine after illness is essential as well as environmental cleaning after an illness.  Virtually anything which reduces the flow of the virus from one person to another greatly reduces the odds of actually spreading the illness.  Distance works, masks work, handwashing works and quarantines work.  Nothing is foolproof, but anything you do reduces the odds of transmission.  Eliminating unnecessary trips to the store is a simple reduction of the odds of transmission, from you or to you.  Send one person for groceries instead of a group, easy reduction of the odds. COVID19 has been shown to survive for only a matter of days on surfaces even without cleansers.  Use any common household disinfectant as directed to destroy the virus on surfaces. As with any infection, take a little extra care dealing with your more vulnerable family and friends.  Elderly, immune compromised, or someone with cancer are a few examples.  Use every precaution to protect them. Charles Bucklew, RN, BSN Retired from 30 plus years hospital work

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