Covid-19, a deadly disease by the Novel Coronavirus, has left all major countries devastated and showed a significant loss of life in its wake. It turns out to be deadlier because we don’t have an innate immunity to the virus’ effects. Besides, does being cured of the disease once mean you’re immune to it? Or can it be deadly for you if it strikes again?
China, where the virus originated, lifted the lockdown after 76 days on 7th April. However, things were not back to normal and a new standard of normalcy was adopted. Soon, after the upliftment , new cases of asymptomatic carriers were found across the city which started to raise grave concern. People who never tested positive started testing positive as asymptomatic carriers. For the moment, these people are kept in quarantine to see when the symptoms show up. Only those patients in China showing symptoms and testing positive in the nuclei test are only counted in the official count of confirmed cases.
That being said, the question remains, Can Covid-19 be deadly for you again? The human immune system comprises of specialized cells and tissues which helps to fight infectious agents like bacteria and viruses.
When your body is invaded by a virus, the immune system responds against it to eliminate the virus. This response includes the creation of protein bodies, fever, or inflammation. In case of a common cold, your body is immune enough to fight off the virus and return your body to the normal stage.
Usually, when you have suffered from a particular disease, your immune system is smart enough to detect the pathogen and eliminate it. This, in turn, depends on how long does the antibodies stay in your system (varying on different pathogens). This is considered to be the main reason why a person is unlikely to have chickenpox twice in his lifetime.
However, we have come across cases where an individual is suffering from chickenpox for a second time. This is where vaccines play a role. Vaccines deliver the required active/inactive body particle required by the immune system to fight off the pathogen.
Extensive research is going on, by WHO and different institutes and companies to come up with a proper vaccine for Covid-19. Moderna, a Boston-based biotech company, had already started its first human trial of vaccine by 16th March. However, no positive news about the same has come across yet.
Dr. Katherine Dallow, Medical Director and Vice President of Clinical Programs and Strategy at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts stated, ‘’At this point, this particular COVID-19 virus seems to be acting more like a stable, non-mutating virus’’. This means that the vaccine needs to be taken once in a lifetime or every 5 to 10 years. But Dallow adds ‘’it’s far too early’’ for us to be getting any closer to an assumption. ‘’ The overwhelming feeling still at this point is that for the vast majority of people, reinfection risk is minimal,” she says.
The key right now lies in finding a vaccine for the virus. However, with the drastic effects of the virus, things are starting to heat up and many industries are on the verge of dying. Economists are worried about the markets and ask the government to come up with a new standard of normalcy to open the closed industries. Economy and life are like the two wheels of a bicycle. The country’s survival depends on the successful management of both simultaneously.
ARTICLE BY : KRISHNA SARAOGI.
Literacy Source – Us News, The Guardian, CNN.
Image Source – (1) https://www.vox.com/2020/1/31/21113178/what-is-coronavirus-symptoms-travel-china-map
