Tawhid Islam :
“Corona” is named for the spikes that project from their surfaces which seems as a crown. Corona viruses belong to a group of viruses and COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and other human respiratory coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV etc.) are genetically very similar but with around 6,000 mutations sprinkled in the usual places in compare with SARS-CoV. On the other hand, in comparing with MERS the SARS-CoV-2 has an unrelated gene with an as-yet unknown function in that position in its genome. Think as cow milk and coconut milk, appearance alike and it’s not just a simple capsulated RNA virus, it’s more than that and now it’s going to change the whole world including business strategy and tradition.
Process of infection:
According to a research paper published on the ACS Chemical neuroscience, the COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells. ACE2 is important for regulating blood pressure.
The group of coronaviruses may infect lungs as like common cold coronaviruses or can infect in the gut that causes diarrhoea. But COVID-19 usually starts out in the lungs such as the common cold but finally it causes massive destruction in the immune system which results long-term lung damage or death.
However, research continuing to investigate the expression of ACE2 in neurological tissue and determining the possible contribution of neurological tissue damage to the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19. In a case study published in the Oxford University Press for the infectious diseases society of America found that COVID-19 can transmitted form infected mother to offspring through placenta.
Researchers and Pharmacists are in a race to develop drugs and vaccines for this infection that has already sickened 4,186 and killed more than 127 people in Bangladesh, (based on the April 23, 2020 data). But the important question is why this COVID-19 virus is so deadly than other coronaviruses and this article will focus on some specific point which are found as reasons for being its lethal action.
Why it causes so much death:
All the reasons cannot be discussed as detail here but some basic points are as following:
1.Among all RNA viruses, coronaviruses are unique for their size and correlated sophistication and they are three times bigger than the viruses cause dengue, Zika and West Nile and also have ability to produce extra proteins that enhance their action.
A virologist from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Veneet Menachery, said “Let’s say dengue has a tool belt with one hammer while this coronavirus has three different hammers, each for a different situation”. One of the tools is a proofreading protein, which helps SARS-CoV-2 to fix some errors that happen during the replication process and able to mutate faster than bacteria.
2. SARS-CoV-2 grows in type II lung cells, which secrete a soap-like substance that helps air slip deep into the lungs, and in cells lining the throat and sometimes it dwells in the upper respiratory tract, where it is easily sneezed or coughed onto its next victim and unfortunately in some patients, it can lodge itself deep within the lungs, where the disease can kill along with in most of the severe cases, there can be a fatal “cytokine storm” in which the immune system goes into overdrive, which overwhelming the body with cells and proteins that destroy other organs.
3.The COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells. That means, SARS-CoV-2 uses the ACE2 protein as a door to enter cells which are also important for regulating blood pressure, and it does its job by getting there first that is one of the reasons COVID-19 is more severe in people with high blood pressure.
4. This virus get entry into humans without them knowing. Even before developing any symptoms in its first host it is already spreading its offspring everywhere, moving onto its next host. Now, we have no way of stopping it from being spread that means people often pass COVID-19 to others before they even know they are the vector of it.
5. SARS-CoV-2 is more powerful than the other seasonal influenza viruses and most importantly, it has various ways to inhibit cells from alarming out to the immune system for support or help. For instance, cell try to make alarm by producing interferon as signaling protein and this virus hold this process as a result COVID-19 can be hidden for a month without causing any or little damage day by day.
In the end some words from Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, he claimed, this virus is comparable to destructive burglars: which break into your home, eat your food, use your furniture and have 10,000 babies and finally they leave the place trashed. Unfortunately, humans have few defenses against these burglars. However, at the final stage of our life we may feel that all the wealth we earned is not enough to save our own life, so it’s the time to rethink how we can make our worth and life meaningful, maybe the way is to work for mankind and donate for the better research.
(Tawhid Islam, B. Pharm Student at Department of Pharmacy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj; email: [email protected])
“Corona” is named for the spikes that project from their surfaces which seems as a crown. Corona viruses belong to a group of viruses and COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and other human respiratory coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV etc.) are genetically very similar but with around 6,000 mutations sprinkled in the usual places in compare with SARS-CoV. On the other hand, in comparing with MERS the SARS-CoV-2 has an unrelated gene with an as-yet unknown function in that position in its genome. Think as cow milk and coconut milk, appearance alike and it’s not just a simple capsulated RNA virus, it’s more than that and now it’s going to change the whole world including business strategy and tradition.
Process of infection:
According to a research paper published on the ACS Chemical neuroscience, the COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells. ACE2 is important for regulating blood pressure.
The group of coronaviruses may infect lungs as like common cold coronaviruses or can infect in the gut that causes diarrhoea. But COVID-19 usually starts out in the lungs such as the common cold but finally it causes massive destruction in the immune system which results long-term lung damage or death.
However, research continuing to investigate the expression of ACE2 in neurological tissue and determining the possible contribution of neurological tissue damage to the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19. In a case study published in the Oxford University Press for the infectious diseases society of America found that COVID-19 can transmitted form infected mother to offspring through placenta.
Researchers and Pharmacists are in a race to develop drugs and vaccines for this infection that has already sickened 4,186 and killed more than 127 people in Bangladesh, (based on the April 23, 2020 data). But the important question is why this COVID-19 virus is so deadly than other coronaviruses and this article will focus on some specific point which are found as reasons for being its lethal action.
Why it causes so much death:
All the reasons cannot be discussed as detail here but some basic points are as following:
1.Among all RNA viruses, coronaviruses are unique for their size and correlated sophistication and they are three times bigger than the viruses cause dengue, Zika and West Nile and also have ability to produce extra proteins that enhance their action.
A virologist from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Veneet Menachery, said “Let’s say dengue has a tool belt with one hammer while this coronavirus has three different hammers, each for a different situation”. One of the tools is a proofreading protein, which helps SARS-CoV-2 to fix some errors that happen during the replication process and able to mutate faster than bacteria.
2. SARS-CoV-2 grows in type II lung cells, which secrete a soap-like substance that helps air slip deep into the lungs, and in cells lining the throat and sometimes it dwells in the upper respiratory tract, where it is easily sneezed or coughed onto its next victim and unfortunately in some patients, it can lodge itself deep within the lungs, where the disease can kill along with in most of the severe cases, there can be a fatal “cytokine storm” in which the immune system goes into overdrive, which overwhelming the body with cells and proteins that destroy other organs.
3.The COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells. That means, SARS-CoV-2 uses the ACE2 protein as a door to enter cells which are also important for regulating blood pressure, and it does its job by getting there first that is one of the reasons COVID-19 is more severe in people with high blood pressure.
4. This virus get entry into humans without them knowing. Even before developing any symptoms in its first host it is already spreading its offspring everywhere, moving onto its next host. Now, we have no way of stopping it from being spread that means people often pass COVID-19 to others before they even know they are the vector of it.
5. SARS-CoV-2 is more powerful than the other seasonal influenza viruses and most importantly, it has various ways to inhibit cells from alarming out to the immune system for support or help. For instance, cell try to make alarm by producing interferon as signaling protein and this virus hold this process as a result COVID-19 can be hidden for a month without causing any or little damage day by day.
In the end some words from Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, he claimed, this virus is comparable to destructive burglars: which break into your home, eat your food, use your furniture and have 10,000 babies and finally they leave the place trashed. Unfortunately, humans have few defenses against these burglars. However, at the final stage of our life we may feel that all the wealth we earned is not enough to save our own life, so it’s the time to rethink how we can make our worth and life meaningful, maybe the way is to work for mankind and donate for the better research.
(Tawhid Islam, B. Pharm Student at Department of Pharmacy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj; email: [email protected])
