In the early part
of the year, the world welcomed a deadly novel virus, a virus whose originality
was first identified in China in the Wuhan-Hubei province. The virus had some
link to large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person
spread and this spread has affected all locations internationally. This virus
became the topic all over nations because it affected all and sundry and the
economy. On March 11, the World Health Organization characterized
the novel Corona Virus as a pandemic.
As readers our
intention is to make a great impact on all aspects of life and of course, COVID-19
is changing everything about our existence. COVID-19 is the general name given
to the disease the whole world is currently facing now. Moving on to how germs
spread let’s learn about Germs:
Germs are
microorganisms that cause diseases. They are called microorganisms because
they cannot be seen with the naked eye. In other words, germs are extremely
tinny and hard to be seen with the human eye. Some of these microorganisms are
normal flora which means they live normally in the human body.
However, these
germs cause us diseases when they have access to the wrong places on our bodies or
when they outgrow in the human body. These germs are basically divided into three
main groups namely, Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoa.
Viruses are a form
of germs that are non-living when outside the body but become like human cells
when inside the body. Accordingly, they behave in such a way that they cannot
be differentiated from the human cells. This is why almost all virus diseases
do not have a cure because drugs are designated to either kill, weaken, or prevent the reproduction of microorganisms. This explains why diseases like hepatitis B,
HIV/AIDS, common cold, and COVID-19 don't have a cure. COVID-19 belongs to the
viruses’ group and its specific class is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) Coronaviruses.
In a discussion with Carl Grant, a member of "THE READERS HUB," he said germs causing diseases requires a transmission
cycle which has been arranged in the SmartArt above. The first which is the agent
refers to the germ that is causing the diseases in this SARS Corona Viruses for
COVID-19. The reservoir is a temporary organism the germ resides. It may or may
not be a host. For instance, a mosquito is a reservoir for plasmodium that
causes malaria. The portal of exit is an area on the host or a reservoir
where the germ leaves the body. The mode of transmission refers to the
various ways a germ is transported from one portal of exit of a reservoir to
the portal of entry of a host. The portal of entry is a reservoir where
the germ enters the body. The portal of entry for COVID-19 is the mucus
membranes, and these are the mouths, eyes, nostrils. This brings to the point
that one must cover the nose, mouth, and eye with a nose mask or face shield when
having face to face conversations with people. The last point which is the
susceptible host refers to a person that gets the disease when the germ enters
the mucus membranes.
The fourth
point of the transmission cycle has four main modes of
transmissions. The mode of transmission is the means through which virus
transfers from one individual to another. These are Droplets, Contact,
Airborne, and vector-borne. The lifestyle of COVID-19 will limit us to the
three modes of transmission.
Droplets simply
are the trickles of saliva or secretions that come out of our mouth when we
sneeze, cough, sing, laugh, shout, etcetera. These droplets travel relatively
less than one meter in the form of liquid. So, when these droplets enter your
eyes, mouth, nostrils, such transmission is called Droplets transmission.
Contact is when germs move from one person to another through
direct or indirect contact. Direct contact such as face to face activities
whiles indirect contact such as contacting through the door handles, phone screen,
car handles, electronic devices, and many more. Airborne is when the virus is
suspended in the air in the form of seeing technically called aerosols. Aerosols
are suspended droplets that float in the air for a period of time. Therefore, when
one wants to be safe from contracting the virus, one would have to adopt a lifestyle that will reduce the risk of these factors,
Hand hygiene prevents indirect transmission of the virus. When you touch your
phone, workplace table, door handles, or at a social gathering, you must wash your
hands thoroughly with soap under running water to kill or wash the virus away. Research indicates that the outer layer of the Corona Virus is made up of fat
which can be easily killed with soap of any kind. You can also wash your hands
with a chlorine solution (parazone). This is usually called the antiseptic handwashing. Get parazone, pour just a small cup, and prepare a solution for the whole
family to wash for 24 hours if you cannot afford a hand sanitizer.
Wearing
of mask and face shield helps prevent two main things droplets
from cough, sneeze, laughter etcetera, and aerosols from entering our
nostrils or mouth or eyes. A mask and a face shield must always go together or
if you will wear only one then wear a mask. This helps protect the mucus
membranes from getting infected. If you wear only a face shield you can inhale
aerosols that will pass the open areas into the inner side and have access to
these areas. So, the face shield is almost useless without a mask.
With physical
distancing, an average length of the arm of an adult is 1 meter, so when you
are in the mix of others ensure you are separated by about twice your arm
length. This lifestyle would prevent droplets as well as contact modes of
transmissions.
The three most
important lifestyle modifications are exercise or reactive at home, eat
optimally with fruits and roughage, relieve stress. As we continue to face
Corona Virus and not know when it will end, let always hand wash, wear nose mask
and face shield, physical distance ourselves in crowds, exercise our human body
to make the body active, eat a lot of fruits and roughage's as part of your diet.
Become part of your new normal because even if you have COVID-19 and heal from
its complications, it may come back to haunt you in 5 years or 10 years to come.
We must keep ourselves afloat in this era and forced to adapt to these changes
in our culture, business, jobs, schools, and lives.
By: Justina Amoah
[Source]: Carl Grant (Health Monday)_THE READERS HUB
Comments
Post a Comment