Trisha Tsundupalli ’21
Amidst the dreary winter season that is known for cases of the flu, the fear of the coronavirus has dominated communities from Wuhan, China to Penn Charter here in Philadelphia. We have been told to wash our hands and create distance between those who are coughing, sneezing, or seem to be unwell; yet, the mechanism in which it works is not public knowledge. Dubbed for their crown-like spikes, this strain of virus was first isolated in chicken embryos in 1937, following in isolation through rats as well. The potency to spread rapidly was also acknowledged in this study, but did not present itself as a matter of pressing concern.
Like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), the coronavirus has been characterized as a respiratory disease that targets the lungs in three stages: viral replication, immune hyper-reactivity, and pulmonary destruction. With decent exposure time to this disease, about four to seventeen days, the coronavirus harbors itself and alerts the cilia cells- that help mucus transport, especially in the lungs- that an unknown virus is in the body. To combat this “invasion,” the body floods the lungs with immune cells, in which one of two cases may occur.
In the first instance, this flooding can be regulated and effectively work to kill the coronavirus. However, the body can also create such a high concentration of immune cells that healthy tissue is also targeted and killed. This situation causes more damage than it does repair, creating a perfect transition to ulimate pandemonium in the lungs. In the most severe cases, coughing and uneasy breathing are common at this point, potentially causing ARDS (acute respiratory disease) that leads to direct damage in the lungs. If untreated, the small blood vessels in the lungs can be punctured, creating a leak of fluid that eventually collects in the alveoli, or the lungs’ air sacs. With inhibition to these critical parts of the body, the lungs are not able to transfer oxygen from the air to blood, slowing down a necessity to sustaining life. Inevitable inflammation also magnifies the permeability of the membranes between the air sacs and blood vessels, adding to the inability to breathe. After reaching this point of infection, these patients must be put on ventilators and in intensive care.
Although the virus and its effect on the body is rather complex, the current best known precautionary measures against the coronavirus are simple: as mentioned earlier, simply washing hands and keeping distance from sick individuals has proved to be quite effective thus far. We can also take greater caution when sneezing or coughing into elbows, and take care when working with raw meats and animals.