Article previously published on Medium.
Coronaviruses under the microscope. (This image is a work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.)
Firstly, what does COVID-19 mean?
The term stands for Corona Virus Disease 2019. Coronaviruses are positive-stranded RNA viruses, with a crown-like appearance under an electron microscope (see the picture above). Indeed, the name Coronavirus comes from the Latin word Corona, meaning crown.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different animal species, that usually causes respiratory symptoms. They contain ribonucleic acid (RNA) as their genetic material, which is less stable than DNA and allow the viruses to change rapidly. Among the RNA viruses it is then necessary to distinguish between those with negative polarity and those with positive polarity. The former have an RNA that does not acts as a messenger, but as a template for messenger RNAs, the latter have an RNA that functions directly as a messenger.
Why COVID-19 is not just a bad seasonal flu?
This virus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. It means that the entire human population previously unexposed will have a high susceptibility to this novel infection, given that no one yet has any natural immunity to it. In fact, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic, a global health emergency. Furthermore, given the mutable nature of this virus, it is still unclear how long the immunity will last, after being exposed to it.
Why we need to act now?
Because we are dealing with a novel virus, it has the high potential to disrupt our health care system. Not only, it can be more aggressive than initially thought. At the beginning it was believed to only pose a threat to older people and/or to patients with underlying medical conditions, while now there are increasing evidence that even young and healthy people, in their 30s and 40s, are being admitted to the intensive care unit.
Prevention is always the best defense.
Here some tips on what everyone can do now to contain the virus spreading:
Avoid crowds and large meetings. Use video calls and work from home every time is possible.
If you have to, hold meetings in open and well-ventilated spaces.
Disinfect surfaces like doorknobs, keys, phones, tables, computers, mouses, desks, and handrails regularly.
If you are outside, and don’t have access to soap or hand sanitizer, use alcohol wet wipes.
Always wear gloves on the bus, metro, during grocery shopping.
NEVER go to work even if you have just a simple cold. It is always better and more considerate to spend 2 days at home and fully recover than spreading it to your colleagues!
Keep your nails clean and short.
Avoid handshaking and touching your face.
It is always recommendable to wear a face mask (do not forget that some people who are infected with the Covid-19 can spread it even though they have no symptoms).
Even if you think to have a seasonal cold/flu, do NOT go to the GP or Hospital in person.
It has been shown that a sufficient concentration of selenium (an antioxidant that helps lower oxidative stress) in your own organism allows a greater defensive capacity of the immune system against the virus itself. In general, it is well known that low blood levels of selenium, zync, copper, and manganese can allow viruses to change more easily and become more aggressive. Therefore, is always important to maintain a well-balanced diet!
Remember that no country would declare national lockdown for a bad seasonal flu.
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