COVID-19 is Still a Mystery
It’s abnormal to care so little about humans other than yourself.
My friend said this to me during our conversation about the United States’ reaction to COVID-19. Our lack of human empathy and morality was unveiled as a result of this pandemic. It could be seen in the lack of mask wearers in public and the lengths people go to deny that there is even a virus at all. It’s seen in the cold responses to news of people passing away from COVID-19, where netizens would type a quick “it’s only a 4 percent death rate” and go about their day, failing to realize that someone’s precious son or daughter was just taken away from them.
The phrase “nothing really matters until it happens to you” has always defined humans, but this pandemic was a clear example of this ugly truth. I’m a criminal in this sense, as well. Though I know that COVID-19 is serious, I didn’t even bother using my platform to educate people about it until now because I didn’t deem it “interesting.” Now, having lost many relatives and family friends to this deadly virus, I am realizing that this is more real than you and I think. I said it before, but I’ll say it again. Every day, a person with a bright future and many more years to make their impact on the world has their life snatched away from them. This is someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, sister, or brother. This person could be YOUR family. This person could be you.
I admit, even I didn’t take this virus seriously for a while. “It’s just an elevated flu. I’m young, so I’ll be fine.” But, I remembered two things.
One, the symptoms of COVID-19 are very similar to that of pneumonia. I had pneumonia before. It was the worst month of my life — a truly hellish experience that I would never want to go through again. Even if I won’t die from it, these symptoms are not to be taken lightly.
Two, not only am I living with my parents, but there are loads of elderly people in my neighborhood. Sure, the virus may not make me lose my life, but could I say the same for my parents? Could I say the same for the people I pass by when I go outside?
There is still so much that we don’t know about this virus. At first, we thought it was only fatal for the elderly. We’re 4 months in now, and many young people have died from the virus, as well. We thought that hydroxychloroquine was a possible treatment, and now it’s considered deadly. We thought it was solely a respiratory infection, but now we see that the liver is a target, too.
How do we separate fact from fiction during this uncertain time? The short answer is that we can’t, or at least, not for sure. In science, it doesn’t just take a few hours or days for research to be completed about anything. Many procedures take weeks, or even months, to finish before the true analysis even starts. For a virus that was only recently created and brought to this country, it’s going to take more than a few months to uncover any reliable and reproducible information. Still, as mere citizens of this country, all we can do is sit back while the scientists thaw away at the COVID-19 iceberg and absorb the information that is thrown our way. This is what we know about the virus so far.
- COVID-19 may have irreversible, long-term effects even after recovering from it.
These long term effects include neurological complications, such as stroke, dementia-like symptoms, and cognitive problems. According to a psychiatric study completed by Dr. Aravinthan Varatharaj’s team in The Lancet, after analyzing 125 COVID-19 cases in people aged 23 to 89, 62% presented with a cerebrovascular event, whether it be an ischaemic stroke, an intracerebral haemorrhage, or unspecified encephalopathy. It has also been shown that COVID-19 has increased the risk of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure in patients that have “recovered.”
- Its mechanism of infection is similar to any virus. The issue lies with the receptor, ACE2, which is expressed in the liver, heart, kidneys, lungs and intestines. This is why COVID-19 is so deathly.
I’ll provide a short crash course about the typical mechanism of viral infection. Enzymes are like a puzzle piece that needs a substrate to fit it in order for it to carry out its function. This is considered the “induced fit” model, where the substrate (in this case, SARS-CoV-2) binds to the enzyme (ACE2) in order to enter host cells. There is much more involved in this mechanism, but I will keep it short.
The issue here is that ACE2 enzyme is expressed in so many places. Whether it be your respiratory tract epithelium or your cardiac muscles, COVID-19 doesn’t care. Wherever there is ACE2 enzyme, SARS-CoV-2 will attack.
So, why don’t we just inhibit the ACE2 enzyme so that SARS-CoV-2 can’t fit in it?
- Good question. In many studies, it was found that inhibiting the ACE2 enzyme actually worsened COVID symptoms! For this reason, it is hard to come up with a vaccine.
An example of this can be seen in this article, where COVID-19 patients are given ACE2 inhibitors so that SARS-CoV-2 cannot bind with the enzyme and encourage severe symptoms. However, blocking this inhibitor could possibly detour the enzymatic pathway to more dangerous effects rather than making it completely stop. For example, in some patients, blocking the ACE2 enzyme caused the pathway to mitigate lung injury and create worse problems for COVID patients. There is more information regarding these enzymatic pathways here.
This is also why hydroxychloroquine, which was once used as treatment for COVID-19, was retracted by the FDA so suddenly. Although hydroxychloroquine was able to inhibit the virus attachment so that it does not engage with ACE2, it was also shown that this very mechanism can lead to various heart problems in COVID patients. Knowing this, it may take a while for scientists to develop a vaccine that can both inhibit SARS-CoV-2 from binding to the host cell AND weaken any possible side effects.
- SARS-CoV refers to the type of coronavirus that caused the SARS sickness in 2002. Although it was a coronavirus, SARS was much more easily contained than COVID-19 currently is. This is because SARS-CoV-2 is MUCH more infectious than SARS-CoV.
SARS-CoV-2 is able to bind to ACE2 enzyme at a much higher affinity than SARS-CoV. This means that the virus can penetrate our cells much easier. Aside from this, the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 makes this virus much more stable at higher temperatures, therefore making COVID-19 hard to get rid of even in extreme heat.
- COVID-19 RNA has not been confirmed to be found in air samples, but WHO is currently looking into this. For now, it is safe to assume that the air could be another method of transmission.
This is self-explanatory. You can never be too careful.
- Although the elderly are more susceptible to fatal COVID symptoms, it is not confirmed that children are less affected. In fact, the infection rates in children were comparable with those of adults in certain studies.
In other words, there’s no reason that schools should be open for in-person classes right now. It is true that most children may not develop severe symptoms compared to elderly persons, but it is still a possibility that they can catch it. Why is it worth the risk?
For a lot of us, this means our family, friends, and neighbors are more susceptible to COVID-19 compared to the general public.
- Your own genetics could make you more susceptible to COVID-19. This is largely due to the many parts of infection pathways (the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself, the host cell, the host cell receptor ACE2, the host cell protease TMPRSS2, etc.)
A lot of these parts are major parts in the pathways for other diseases. Due to polymorphisms and variations inherited from family members who have had pre-existing conditions, genetics is a large factor in a person’s susceptibility to COVID. Patients who have a history of cancer, cardiovascular disorders, or hypertension are particularly susceptible to COVID-19.
- Most importantly, MASKS HELP.
A study by The New England Journal of Medicine used high speed video to analyze the droplet transmission between two people having a conversation. Droplets ranged from 20 to 500 micrometers with just a couple of sentences. However, with mask coverings, ALL of these droplets were blocked from entering the other person’s mouth.
This is a comprehensive list, but it’s only scratching the surface of the plethora of new discoveries that are being made every single day about SARS-CoV-2. My point is, this is much more serious than the majority of us are making it out to be. We still don’t know for sure what this virus can do to someone’s body; the effects vary too much from person to person. What we do know is that death is a possibility.
I am not trying to scare you. However, the reality of this pandemic should have hit you by now.
With that being said, taking the necessary precautions is the least one can do as a human. Despite the rumors on social media, masks are incredibly effective protection against the virus. Cloth masks filter out 10–15% of viral particles. Surgical masks filter out 40–50% of viral particles. N-95 masks filter out around 95% of viral particles. Masks are the easiest, most efficient way to protect yourself and others from this deathly virus without impacting your daily life.
As people prepare to return to their college campuses, I want to remind you that NOTHING is worth risking the lives of people you are around. Throwing a syllabus week frat party is not worth it. Going to the bar for a quick drink is not worth it.
It’s not a political statement to take care of your health. It’s your responsibility as a decent human being.
