The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is continuing to confound medical science. Chinese general Sun Tzu born 544 BC laid the foundations for modern warfare when he said. ‘If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.’ In today’s terms this includes understanding why the coronavirus is so deadly effective.
Mastery of Deception Explains Why the Coronavirus Is So Deadly Effective
James Gallagher is health and science correspondent for BBC News. He asked Prof Paul Lehner from University of Cambridge what the virus’s success secret is. ‘This virus is brilliant,’ the prof explained. ‘It allows you to have a viral factory in your nose and feel completely well. It can be running rampant in our lungs and airways and yet our immune system thinks everything is a-ok.’
However the new coronavirus does more than just ‘switching off’ our immune system’s chemical warning. Paul Lehner told James Gallagher it behaves like a ‘hit and run killer’. That’s because it has infected its host’s close contacts before they are aware they are ill. ’The virus doesn’t care if you die,’ he explained. ‘This is a hit and run virus’.
More Weapons in the Coronavirus Armory Making It Trickier to Defeat
James Gallagher turned to Prof Tracy Hussell from University of Manchester for more information. Another reason why the coronavirus is so deadly effective, he told her is because our immune system has no pre-existing defenses.
Moreover, Prof Mauro Giacca, from King’s College London adds, it spreads throughout our body, including our blood. And finally, our unhealthy lifestyles have made us ideal hosts for this relentless virus’. An alarming number of us are overweight, even obese.
The coronavirus has an unusual association with obesity, Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, from University of Cambridge believes. Fatty deposits on organs like our liver associate with higher levels of inflammation, and can lead to blood clotting. It follows our best defense to not be contracting the infection in the first place, through taking the sensible precautions we know well by now.
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Preview Image: How a Coronavirus Infects
