Pathetic Pandemic

 

Pathetic Pandemic

 Coronavirus Disease of 2019

According WHO, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered SARS-CoV2 virus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow)

3 Phases of Covid-19

Phase 1: During the early infection phase (Phase 1), the virus multiplies inside the body and is likely to cause mild symptoms that may be confused with a common cold or flu.

Phase 2: The second phase, according to the scientists, is the pulmonary phase (Phase 2), when the immune system becomes strongly affected by infection, and leads to primarily respiratory symptoms such as persistent cough, shortness of breath, and low oxygen levels.

Phase 3: The third, hyperinflammatory phase, occurs when a hyperactivated immune system may cause injury to the heart, kidneys, and other organs. In this phase, the study noted that a “cytokine storm”- where the body attacks its own tissues may occur.

While there may be overlap among the three stages of disease, the scientists said it is crucial to recognize each stage in order to tailor personalized treatment to patients.

Deadly Fungi Terrifying India during Pandemic

As India battles the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, incidences of new fungal pathogens have been reported, which can be just as deadly as the Coronavirus. Till now, three types of fungal cases have been reported in the country i.e., black, white and yellow.

Black fungus or ‘mucormycosis’ is a life-threatening disease, which has infected COVID-19 patients and recovered patients as well. The fungus is caused by mucormycetes which is a type of fungi present in the environment. The fungus surrounds the blood vessels and destroys them resulting in tissue necrosis (death of body tissue) and can even lead to death. Common symptoms are Blurring of visions, discharge from nose and numbness. Another type is White fungus which is deadlier than black fungus. It spreads to several parts of the body and severely damages the lungs. Severe effects can be seen on the kidney, mouth, skin and brain. Common symptoms are Diarrhea, White patches in oral cavity, skin lesions. Unlike black and white, yellow fungus starts internally, causes pus leakage, and leads to slow healing of wounds. In some serious cases, it could further lead to devastating symptoms like organ failure and acute necrosis (cell injury). Common symptoms are poor appetite, poor metabolism, sunken eyes.

Although, all three of these fungi are hazardous, measures such as good hygiene and clean surroundings and maintaining good immunity would help in preventing us from these deadly fungi.

 

Vaccines available in India

Currently, three vaccines are available in India which are Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V which is recently imported from Russia.

All these vaccines have their unique composition, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body and Covishield is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus although it can't cause illness. When the vaccine is injected into a patient, it prompts the immune system to start making antibodies and primes it to attack any coronavirus infection and Sputnik V uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body. After being vaccinated, the body starts to produce antibodies especially tailored to the coronavirus.

Although, these three are different vaccines, they work for the same cause that is to prevent coronavirus so it is suggested to people to take any of these vaccines as soon as possible.

 

In a nutshell, Covid-19 is spreading rapidly like a wildfire day by day, it is affecting personal life, families, economies, health and everything in the world. The most unspoken affect is on mental health of people, it has made people’s life stressful as it disturbed everyone’s day to day life routine, created a fear of losing loved ones and built loneliness due to isolation and etc. In hard times like these it is very important to stay strong both mentally and physically. I would suggest everybody to stay healthy and positive, practice yoga and medication as it keeps our mind and body calm, appreciate things around you, stay connected with your loved ones and do what makes you happy. Let’s all hope this pandemic ends soon.

Stay Home and Stay Safe