The ultimate purpose of a virus is to replicate
itself and to do that it needs to
infiltrate and take over our bodies.
Here's how to outwit the annoying...
Sometimes devasting...
-Viral invader-
*The first step is to understand its game plan...
You're pushing the trolley around the supermarket and absentmindedly rub your nose. It's something we do all the time. What you don't realise is that with this simple action you've exposed your body to a microscopic invader so potent that in 12 hours you'll be flat on your back in bed... Do you know why??
Goodies and Baddies~
Many viruses are well adapted to live in our bodies and never cause problems. Some 80 percent of us are infected by the glandular fever virus by the time we're 50. The herpes simplex virus responsible for cold sores, lives quietly in the nerves at the back of the brain and only comes out to cause trouble when you're stressed and periodically it's secreted in your saliva so that it can move on to invade the next body.
Others are more dangerous. The viruses responsible for deadly ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza regularly hit the news, while millions of people die every year from viruses that cause respiratory of gastrointestinal illnesses. HIV/AIDS has decimated much of the world, and governments are preparing for the next great influenza pandermic - we've had three in the last century.
Yet for something that has such a major impact on humanity, the tiny virus is little understood. Despite progress in developing antiviral drugs in the past ten years, there's still very little we can do to treat a viral infection. It's frustrating for doctors. Most people expect to be cured, but viral infections can't be helped by antibiotics.
Their Survival Skills~
Through evolution, viruses worked out clever ways of replicating themselves. Many use animals as hosts to travel large distances such as bats, are thought to carry a range of viruses and do a great job because they are sociable animals.
Viruses' survival is dependent on finding new host cells and replicating. Viruses that can't do this in time, very quickly disappear. There's another trick that viruses have up their sleeve : they mutate. Every time it infects a new human, it slightly changes its composition. That means there are often outbreaks of new, unrecognised viruses. And that is what worries governments where global travel means viruses can spread round the world in a flash.
Viruses can kill, cause permanent disability, or just make our lives a misery. There may also lead to other diseases. Better understanding of viruses' role means we now know 20-25 percent of cancers have a viral infection as a risk factor. If you contact contract hepatitis B or C, for example, your risk of liver cancer sky rockets. Human papillomavirus (HPV) leads to cervical cancer, and Epston Barr virus to lymphoma.
Prevention is better than cure~
To avoid infections, you need to contain virus. That means upping the hygiene and quarantining infected people. During the influenza type A (H1N1) outbreak in Malaysia, we should increase our awareness by wearing a face mask and wash hands in viricide wash. Take care...
