Viruses 101: Just the Basics Please
Viruses are everywhere, they are changing, adapting and mutating all the time and they are very, very creepy. The idea that there are these little microscopic things that can fly up our nose, hang out in food or water and travel on our pets is a bit scary. But to be honest, this is nature. Every living thing is here for a reason and hopefully to teach us a few things along the way.
Viruses are one of the driving forces of genetic diversity because of their ability to transfer genes from one between different species. They are one of the largest reservoirs of unexplored genetic diversity on Earth. This also explains their amazing ability to mutate and adapt to a host as well as the more than 5000 various viruses that are known around the globe.
Some of our most amazing scientific discoveries have involved viruses. This is because for as small they are, they are are living things and as living things, their goal is to survive. This means that they work to find ways to evade detection, to escape from their enemies and to reproduce … and to do that they need a host. There are so many different types of viruses that we cannot escape them all. In fact, the idea of prevention isn’t just reserved for a vaccine, it is the concept of innoculating ourselves against all viruses, not just the latest one.
Repeat after me. Prevention is innoculating ourselves against all viruses, not just the latest one.
Just to give you some perspective, take a look at SOME of the thousands of viruses that have been circling the globe since the first virus was recognized in 1898 in tobacco plants:
Epstein-Barr
Smallpox
Astrovirus
Influenza in all its various forms
Hantaan Virus
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
West Nile Virus
Measles
Mumps
Rubella or German Measles
Coronavirus
Torovirus
Echovirus
Yellow Fever
Chicken Pox (Herpes Zoster)
Shingles (also Herpes Zoster)
Rhinovirus
Encephalomyocarditis
Hepatitis
Herpes in all its various forms
Rotavirus
Molluscum Contagiosum
Horsepox Virus
Cytomegalovirus
Polio
Rabies
Ebola
Hanta Fever
HIV / AIDS
European Bat Lyssavirus
Rift Valley Fever
Monkeypox
Enterovirus
SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)
MERS (middle eastern respiratory syndrome)
Dengue Fever
Zika
HPV
Parvo
Hendra Virus
Banna
Barmah Forest Virus
Chandipura Virus
Cowpox Virus
Coxsackie Virus
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
Dhori
Dugbe
Duvenhage
Viruses are not isolated travelers. They cannot get from one town to the next, let alone one country to another without hitching a ride inside a host. So it is only through infected living things that viruses travel. This means that throughout history illness stayed in one area and only could spread by the movement of an infected living thing, in most cases, people.
But in this century, the gradual increased movement of food, people and animals has changed this. Animals are now having to migrate into different areas because of human expansion. Populations are not just eating their traditional diets, we are venturing out to eat much more exotically. The rise of factory farming created living situations for animals that are not natural to their species, nor their health. Avian bird flu, Mad Cow disease, and now the latest Covid-19 are all due to the literal stockpiling of animals in cramped quarters. Think of the hold of ships in the 17th and 18th centuries and the vast numbers of illness and death that ensued among passengers.
Pandemics have occurred throughout history. Smallpox decimated the Native American population when the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria arrived carrying more than just their crew. It is thought this gave the Europeans a substantial advantage in displacing the native population.
!n 1918 was the Spanish Flu outbreak which was a uniquely deadly Type A influenza virus. It is thought to have begun as a result of Chinese laborers transported to Europe during World War I to dig trenches and provide manual labor to the army. Because of the cramped quarters they endured throughout their journey to Europe and the weakened immunity of the soldiers at the front, many died while others brought the illness home with them. It infected more than one third of the world’s population and killed at least 50 million people. Unlike other viruses it killed young adults between 20 and 30 years of age wiping out an entire generation of people.
Now we not only have air travel for adventurous souls but we also transport foodstuffs across vast distances. I can even get caster sugar and PG Tips tea at the local grocery store now. But as we saw with Mad Cow disease, infected foods can create habitats for viruses. In meat for instance, transport of meat is always in cold temperature storage. This also allows viruses to live much longer in contaminated meat and can spread a virus over a much greater distance. In SARS which originated in China in 2003, it took months for it to spread outside of China, but it was quickly contained and most of the world was never affected.
But since that time global travel has exploded, particularly in cultures and countries that were not traditionally globally-oriented nor had the resources for international travel. This means that there is no way for us to avoid contact with a virus unless we are going to stay home. So let’s go through some viral training so we understand what we are up against and what we need to do to limit our contact and limit our symptoms.
Viral FAQs
What are viruses?
They are small pathogens that need to be inside a living thing in order to reproduce. These can include humans, animals and plants. They can even infect bacteria and other microorganisms which is why you can have symptoms of both and also why an antibiotic won't do much more than deal with the bacteria that is present leaving the virus in the body tissues.
So antibiotics are ineffective in viral infections?
Antibiotics can reduce secondary infectious agents that accompany the virus, but will be ineffective against the virus.
Is there no treatment for a viral infection?
There are some antivirals that have been developed, but viruses will mutate as they replicate inside the host. This can make them resistant to antiviral medications.
Why are there so many varied symptoms of a viral infection?
Viruses will infect tissue in your body that is already damaged or unhealthy so your symptoms will reflect that. Also depending on the point of entry for a virus it can infect tissue that is attached to the point of entry (mouth, nose, etc.).
Why can I still get a viral infection such as the flu when I have had a vaccination?
There are so many different strains of each virus and a vaccination only protects against one or some of these strains. Also mutations occur constantly meaning that the virus can find ways to evade the immune system. These create chronic symptoms and reappear each time the body’s immunity is low. These are now being called stealth pathogens which describes how they can live undetected for years creating illness.
How can viruses be transmitted?
Viruses are generally closely transmitted through body secretions but can also be found in food and water. Viruses can also live outside of the body in the air for a short period of time and on a surface for up to 7 days, particularly on non-porous surfaces. They can live longer in cold environments outside of a host which may explain part of why viral infections are more common in the winter months.
Can viral infections be "cured"?
No, because once a virus is in your body it will simply go dormant due to the action of your immune system, but will remain dormant in your cells.
What about vaccines?
Vaccines are generally developed against one strain of one virus, which means they rarely protect against mutation factors of a virus. Think of the various strains of flu. Pharmaceutical companies are constantly guessing which strain of flu will be the predominant one in a season and often each season brings a new strain or mutation of the influenza virus. The action of a vaccine is to "innoculate" or introduce a virus to your immune system so that when you are exposed again the response is quicker and more effective because the immune system recognizes it. This makes it clear that the best approach is strengthening your own immune defenses.
Your Best Defense
Just as in football, your best defense is a good offense. You must be proactive and not wait until you are actually sick. This may be what we need to learn from the latest viral strain to flash on our screens 24 hours a day. Prevention.
I’ve already discussed the best medicinal options for prevention and treatment in “Coronavirus is not an illness from drinking beer.” But additionally there are some things for us to remember:
Make sure you drink water that has been purified for pathogens. Traditionally this was done by boiling water, but now there are a number of purifying options for water including ionizing and ultraviolet light.
Meat and animal products are the most common foods that can contain viral remnants, however any food that can contact animal secretions can pass along viruses. This is why cooking meats thoroughly is important to prevent any viral transmission.
Cleaning surfaces regularly is another important way to prevent the transmission of illness. This is a good rule of thumb (where did that phrase come from??) all the time since not only family members, but guests can bring illness into our houses without even knowing they are sick. Diluted bleach, hydrogen peroxide (food grade), 70% alcohol solutions will all be effective cleansers of surfaces. And don’t forget other non-porous surfaces that everyone touches such as phones, door handles, keyboards, the remote for the television, interior car surfaces, the mailbox.
By far the most important defense is your own immunity. Nothing is more important to combat all illness and particularly viral illness over time than your own body’s immune system. You can do this throughout the seasons with both medicinals and healthy choices in food, movement and therapies such as Decongestive Lymphatic Drainage.
The latest Covid-19 virus is just the latest. It will not be the last, so prepare now for the next one before it arrives.