RECIPES

Friday 15 October 2021

Putting Covid Into Perspective

 I doubt there is a single person in our country who is not aware that Covid-19 is an infectious viral disease.  But what is a virus?

o   A virus is a submicroscopic life form, so tiny that it is invisible under a normal microscope.

o   It is an infectious agent, meaning it will have the means to spread itself from host to host.

o   Viruses are regarded as the most common biological entities on planet Earth, and can infect all other life forms (animals, plants, and even micro-organisms like bacteria).

o   The vast majority of viruses are harmless to humans, but some can kill us (especially if we have no antibodies to fight the disease caused), and some can be beneficial (e.g., the viruses that attack bacteria can be used to stop bacterial infection in humans).

o   There are several different viruses that can infect humans.  Some of the most commonly known ones would be Corona (such as colds, influenza, covid), HIV (AIDS), Hepatitis B, Herpes, Warts, Polio, Measles, Rubella, Mumps, Rotavirus (gastrointestinal flu), Dengue Fever, and Rabies.



The Corona Virus family is so ancient that it is believed to have been present in some form or another for as long as the human race has existed.

Today’s strains all present medically with similar symptoms, which can range in severity from insignificant to very mild, through to extremely severe or even fatal.

The most common Corona forms of virus found in our civilizations today are:

o   COLD – sniffles, cough, runny nose – remember that the Common Cold killed thousands of indigenous peoples when they were first visited by Western explorers, as they had no immunity to what was to them a new disease.

o   FLU – this is a term that is often used now to denote that a person is suffering a severe bout of common cold. It is often accompanied with headache and fever, and usually requires a day or two off work to recover.

o   RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) – results in symptoms similar to the common cold.  Most children will have had an RSV infection before their second birthday.  Reinfection is common.  Those most at risk are very young babies, frail elderly folk, and adults with existing critical heart or lung conditions.

o   INFLUENZA – a viral strain that affects the whole body, resulting in severe cold and flu symptoms, aches and pains, breathing difficulties.  It can take days, weeks, or sometimes months, to recover from – remember that thousands of people die worldwide every year as a result of contracting the influenza virus.

Influenza can be broken into Types A, B and C.  Type A can infect a variety of animals other than humans, and has the ability to jump from one organism to another without undergoing major genetic changes (that is, it mutates easily). 

Type A influenza strain is the one with the most potential to be fatal to humans, as it has sub-types that can join and mutate and result in a “new” type of influenza that our bodies do not immediately recognise.  It is these mutations that Influenza Vaccine is designed to combat.

o   SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, arrived 2003) – fever, cough, muscle aches, breathing difficulties.

o   MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, arrived 2012) – fever, fatigue, coughs, chills, aches and pains, breathing difficulties.

o   COVID-19 (the latest arrival in the Corona Virus family, arrived 2019) – fever, fatigue, cough, breathing difficulties, aches and pains.

SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as Covid-19, is particularly virulent to humans at this time as it is a new disease and our bodies have yet to learn how to respond to it.  Likewise, medical protocols are still being developed in finding the best ways to prevent/treat the infection.

So far, four main variants/mutations of Covid have been identified – Alpha B.1.1.7 (first found in the UK), Beta B.1.351 (first found in South Africa), Gamma P.1 (first found in Brazil), and Delta B.1.617.2 (first found in India).




ALL Corona Viruses have the potential to be fatal to the human organism.  Most of them are able to easily mutate into other strains, and some have the ability to cross over between different host species.

We have always had corona viruses with us, and we always will.  They will never be completely eradicated from our lives, and new ones will be forever appearing.  This is just how it is.

The best we can do is to find ways to minimize (through prevention and treatment methods) the impact of each new form of corona virus until we can develop a more natural immunity to it.   

People will continue to die from every form of corona virus, just like they always have.  This is not fear-mongering.  It is being practical and realistic, and helps to put the current pandemic into a better long-term perspective.




In ten to twenty years’ time this pandemic will be part of history and the world will have moved on to something else to worry about.

Such is the way of human progress 😊

Margaret.


The photographs above are random scenes from around the North Island.


12 comments:

  1. I appreciate your thoughts putting this virus into perspective. One important point is that if you survive Covid and most people do survive, you get a strong immunity against getting it again.

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  2. That was great! So clear and thorough. Thank you, Margaret.

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  3. Love this perspective Margaret - you do not minimise the danger of the virus and current pandemic, but neither do you over dramatise it - well said
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  4. Thanks you have described covid well. We live with lots of serious diseases and now we have covid. I am seventy one my husband is eighty both of us are fully vaccinated and are now getting on with the rest of our life. Wishing you well.

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  5. Thank you, Margaret. Very well done. Your photos are beautiful, too. --Elise

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  6. oh I wish you could talk to family members of mine, they believe that the jab will make them sterile and that it will change their DNA.

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  7. Thank you. There is only one way to get through the current situation and that is to be practical and realistic. Zero cases is unachievable.

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  8. This really is a good post...you wrote it so well!

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  9. HEAR, HEAR!!!!!

    Thank you!!!!!!

    Find a simple explanation of the Facts, and spread it.

    People with "a brain," will understand.

    Even if they have been bombarded with False Information for 2 years.

    Ahhhhh, but... Will they??????

    Or have they been too *brain washed,* by the Multi Source Media, and the Evil Gov. and Science gurus, to read and listen to their own brains?????

    That is the question...

    But THANK YOU for trying to cut through the Crap-O-La, and give the true answers.

    Man/Woman/Kind will simply have to learn to Live And Die, with this. There is no eradicating these virus'.

    BRAVO! My Dear!

    🍂🔥🌰🌻🍁🌻🌰🔥🍂

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  10. The shot help protect the most vulnerable:) One of my cousins has a son who died, the funeral was yesterday. He was 53...and unvaccinated.

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  11. I SO agree with you!!!
    We have this virus (or plural) ever since and I think now it also went political.
    Just wait what happens when winter rolls in and the mix the vaxx with the "normal"/"common" flu. Here.

    Distance.

    Wash your hands. Don´t cough at people, or sneeze, it´s too easy for some.

    Yes, the virus is with us like forever and they - worldwide - start a panic, not a ... you-know-what.

    Great, true post.

    Would (I?) love to look into the future...

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  12. Thank you for sharing this perspective on the viruses!
    Sue

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx