Running Head: COVID-19: THE NEW FOUND VIRUS 1

Covid-19: The New Found Virus

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COVID-19: THE NEW FOUND VIRUS 2

Covid-19: The New Found Virus

Introduction

In 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was discovered in Wuhan

China. It was thought to be a local disease that could be easily contained and prevent its

transmission to other regions of the country. However, the efforts were unfruitful, and the virus

rapidly spread all over the world. It triggered the World Health Organization (WHO) to name it a

global pandemic since it has claimed hundreds of lives. Furthermore, the severity of the disease

has resulted in countries shutting down its economy to ensure that it can manage the spread of

the virus.

After countries reported their first case of Covid-19, there has been a significant rise in

numbers which has led to the shutdown of countries to contain the spread of the disease. Though

economies are slowly reopening after witnessing a decrease in the number of cases, it is a huge

risk because the disease is transmitted via human to human basis. It, therefore, presents the need

to have a different approach to the virus. Besides, the WHO has tasked different scientist to find

the cure of the virus, which has been a slow process due to the nature of the virus.

Medical staff have been on the forefront to tackle the virus, but the efforts sometimes go

in vain because it is a new pandemic which the doctors and nurse have no clue about. The

infected people become infectious individuals as the rapid spread of the disease significantly

takes the medical community by surprise. However, sometimes as a result of mutations, some of

the people living with or might have contracted the disease tend to survive or not showcase the

symptoms. As a result, it creates the need to understand the behavior and construct of the

disease.
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COVID-19 overview

Under a microscope, the Coronavirus takes the shape of a crown enveloped in spikes

(Vallamkondu et al., 2020). The shape of the virus resulted in the creation of the name Corona

that means crown in Latin (Vallamkondu et al., 2020). It, therefore, belongs to the extensive

family of virus that can both affect animals and human beings. The spread of the virus is widely

believed to have been transmitted from a bat through pangolins to human beings. Consequently,

it presents the relational factor between the virus and animals and its spread to human beings.

The virus profoundly affects the respiratory system and has been named severe acute

respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS COV 2) (Zhang et al., 2020). The usual signs and

symptoms in immune comprised people involve shortness of breath, fever, dry cough, and

muscle pain (Vallamkondu et al., 2020). Nonetheless, in severe conditions, it leads to severe

respiratory disease and eventually, death. It is reported that the Covid-19 is risky on individuals

with diabetes, heart disease, and older adults in society. On the other hand, as the disease can

lead to failure of organs, it is widely related to the cytokine release syndrome that is associated

with high fever presented by Coronavirus (Berlin et al., 2020).

The nature of the virus limits the diagnosis process to screening method. Individuals with

mild symptoms might not present positive signs of the virus. Thus it demands regular screening.

Moreover, it will demand medical staff to have a distinguishing analysis of Covid-19 from

viruses such as pneumonia, influenza and many more others to initiate the treatment process. It

further limits the disease analysis to the incubation period of 7 to 14 days to trigger the

identification of the virus in a person. The period is 98 percent accurate to many patients and is

widely used to understand SARS COV 2.

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Demographic and Epidemiology of SAR COV 2

Currently, Covid-19 has infected approximately 36449681 people (Worldometer, 2020).

It has resulted in 1061520 deaths all over the world, with 216 countries having cases of

Coronavirus (Worldometer, 2020). The recovery rate has reached 27445160, and it is intended to

have a huge impact on the fight against Coronavirus (Worldometer, 2020). These numbers have

been widely increasing since the first case of Coronavirus in Wuhan, China which led to the

spread of the SAR COV 2 to different countries.

The median age of the SAR COV 2 of the infected people involves 47-56 years with

males being highly affected (Vallamkondu et al., 2020). Individuals over 45 years are highly at

risk due to the severity of the disease. Death cases constitute people with different lifestyle

diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and many more (Vallamkondu et al., 2020). The

demographical distribution of the cases significantly contributes to understanding various means

of approaching SAR COV 2 and initiating methods of combating it.

The epidemiological dynamics of SAR COV 2 has significantly changed where initially

the most affected continent was Asia, with China being the highly affected country (Ortiz-Prado

et al., 2020). However, in the recent statistics, the disease has widely spread to Europe as Asia

witness a decrease in the coronavirus cases. America has become a widely affected region in

Europe. The risk factor of the spread of SAR COV 2 is that it can be easily transmitted to a

healthy person through droplets released when speaking or sneezing (Ortiz-Prado et al., 2020).

Many people tend to infected through being in contact with asymptomatic individuals that leads

to the fast-spreading of the disease. Additionally, patients can transmit the virus to others even

after two weeks of recovery (Ortiz-Prado et al., 2020).

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Structure and Genome of SARS COV 2

SAR COV 2 is round in shape and enveloped in spike protein (Vallamkondu et al., 2020).

The spike protein widely fosters the ease of entering an individual’s cell as it presents binding

support to the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme. The membrane that is incorporated into the

virus significantly determines the shape of the virus. On the other hand, the spike protein

interacts with the glycoprotein that creates the viral envelope (Vallamkondu et al., 2020).

Furthermore, SAR COV 2 creates itself as positive single-strand RNA that is non-segmented

(Ortiz-Prado et al., 2020). It profoundly engineers the host’s cells and results in its duplication.

Also, since protein is widely bounded on RNA, it is significantly impacting the process of the

viral genome, the replication cycle of the virus, and the response of the host cell to the

coronavirus infection (Ortiz-Prado et al., 2020). Therefore, the RNA plays a crucial role as the

binding domain of the virus and influences the process of entry.

Pathophysiology of SAR COV 2

a) Mechanism of Cell entry

The Glycosylated homotrimeric S protein creates a higher chance for SAR COV 2 to

enter a host cell (Yang et al., 2020). It presents the reason for having spike protein enveloping

the membrane of the virus. The spike proteins bind to the host cell, which results in shedding

where the subunit of the cell triggers a post-fusion to conform in the host cell (Yang et al., 2020).

The membrane design itself on a protruding shape, spike protein to influence the entry into the

host’s cell.

On the other hand, a laboratory test from a patient and an infected bat showcase that

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) acts as an entry receptor for SAR COV 2 (Yang et al.,

2020). In most cases, the affinity of SAR COV 2 is profoundly high, triggering the strong
COVID-19: THE NEW FOUND VIRUS 6

infectivity of the virus. Besides, through inhibition, the virus tends to multiply itself on the target

cell to ensure that it widely inhibit the host cell (Yang et al., 2020). It, therefore, explains the

reason why people with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease tend to succumb to the virus

since the antibodies are not capable of fighting the numerous cells of the virus.

b) Identify the particular cells affected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus

The SAR COV 2 widely targets the alveolar cells where it enters and intensely multiplies.

The inhibition process triggers the release of cytokines in different varieties that tend to trigger

the immunity cells to ‘storm’ the infected cell, which results in inflammation (Yang et al., 2020).

Consequently, the process results in congestion of immune cells at the affected region that ends

up triggering lung tissue injury and fever which is visible through the difficulty in breathing and

sometimes lung failure (Yang et al., 2020).

As the ACE propels the inhibition to the host’s cell, It initiates the possibility of the virus

to affect the intestines, kidney and other body parts which might result in dysfunctioning of the

intestines, kidney failure and many more (Yang et al., 2020). The process involves the ACE

attaching to the bile duct cells or the kidney cells and triggering the inhibition process that

creates the possibility of inflammation. It establishes the insight on cases of some patients having

intestine dysfunction and other internal organs apart from the lungs. The idea that the SAR COV

2 is a respiratory virus that does not limit it to affecting the lung cells.

The ACE offers the chance for the virus to infect different organs due to its ability to

enhance entry of any cell. Since it encompasses the spike protein, it widely presents the chance

to attach itself to any cell and initiate the inhibition process. SAR COV 2 has a sophisticated

adaptation that enables it to affect any cell.

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Diagnostic Tests and Treatments

The process of diagnosis widely depends on the genetic test. The Centre for Disease

Control (CDC) played a crucial role in early 2020 by producing the first testing kit for SAR

COV 2 patients (CDC, 2020). It is currently used globally to test the infected patients, which can

trigger the containment process of the Covid-19. The test widely depends on the chemical

reagent that tends to produce the positivity or negativity of specimen (CDC, 2020). The

specimen of patients is either sputum, blood, or inhalation fluid. However, a blood specimen is

widely used to deduce the results of the test.

At the moment, there is no specific treatment plan for SAR COV 2 patients. Nonetheless,

since there is a relational aspect between SAR COV and SAR COV 2, it presents the chance to

have a breakthrough on finding a treatment process for the illness (Ye & Jin, 2020). In most

cases, oxygen and antiviral therapy are widely used as a means for containing the diseases (Yang

et al., 2020). On the other hand, patients who have been affected severely are subjected to a

process of intense oxygen therapy which is not widely providing the best solution to the problem.

Conclusion

SAR COV 2 presents a significant medical issue to medical staff. However, the effort

made to understand the disease creates the hope of having a breakthrough towards the creation of

a responsive treatment plan. It is widely understood that the membrane of the virus, spike

protein, significantly contributes to the process of entry into a target cell. Also, with the help

ACE, it can affect different types of cells, making the virus significantly dangerous. Besides, it

acts through inhibition that triggers a multiplication of the virus in the targeted cell. Therefore,

the risk factor is centralized on its ability to multiply, leading to failure of different tissues.
COVID-19: THE NEW FOUND VIRUS 8

Nevertheless, the conceptualization of the virus has contributed to the reduced number of deaths

as witnessed in the early onset of the pandemic.

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References

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https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmcp2009575

CDC. (2020). CDC Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19. Retrieved 9 October 2020, from

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/testing.html.

Ortiz-Prado, E., Simbaña-Rivera, K., Gómez- Barreno, L., Rubio-Neira, M., Guaman, L., &

Kyriakidis, N. et al. (2020). Clinical, molecular, and epidemiological characterization of the

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SARS-CoV-2 pathophysiology and assessment of coronaviruses in CNS diseases with a

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