23/04/2020
AI LITTLE NOTE FOR SOMEONE OUT THERE IN
WHAT IS A VIRUS?
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viruses are everywhere, in the air, on all surfaces and even in the food you eat. you ingest, breathe in and take in millions of viruses every second. but what exactly is a virus?
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a virus is not even a living thing. but that depends on how you define a living thing. it doesn't breathe, it doesn't eat and it cant reproduce. its just a piece of DNA or RNA enclosed in a protein and fat shell. but still, it evolves with the help of your cells. soap dissolves fat, thats why washing your hands with soap dissolves their shell, "killing" them.
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viruses are so small if bacteria had eyes, they would need a microscope to see the smallest virus. viruses can infect any living thing, a cat, dog, a tree, including bacteria and even other viruses. but what a virus can infect depends on the shape of receptors on its shell. corona viruses have long spikes that stick to cells in your respiratory system. the spikes are why they're called "corona" viruses.
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when a virus infects your cell, it hijacks your cell's manufacturing process, tricking it into producing more viruses. each new virus will leave the cell to infect more cells and trick them also into producing viruses. those cells that are busy making viruses are no longer useful to you. so if the number is high, you get sick.
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a vaccine protects you by pretending to be a specific virus. your immune system will respond by creating blockers that make it impossible for the virus to bind to your cells. this means when you're infected by an actual virus, it wont bind to your cells and so it wont replicate until its naturally released by your body. the process of creating the blockers in your body takes time, thats why vaccines are taken before you're sick.
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without a vaccine, the virus can spread faster than it takes to become immune. but if your body responds quickly, you survive. thats why when you have a virus infection, they treat your symptoms to keep you alive long enough for your body to create an immunity to that virus.
