The Covid-19 spread throughout the world has been fast. Almost 96 thousand are now infected in 6 continents.
As an infected person coughs or sneezes, the droplets containing the viruses can land on any surface. The virus can survive on a smooth surface for as long as 9 days and transfer to the next person who will touch it. The ability to survive for several days outside the body is due to the protective shell of the Covid-19.
A study that came out on Feb 19 analyzed the protein shell of different coronaviruses, which includes the SARS and the MERS viruses. Both SARS and MERS are coronaviruses that caused epidemics in 2003 and 2012, respectively. SARS is for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. MERS stands for Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome.
The current Covid-19 epidemic has surpassed both outbreaks in the number of cases and deaths.
What the researchers found in the study is that the protein matrix of the Covid-19 shell is strong enough to survive the gastrointestinal tract. The digestive tract has protective mechanisms like the very acidic stomach juice and digestive enzymes that can break down proteins that protect against microbes.
The shell of the Covid-19 allows it to survive and multiply within the gastrointestinal tract. When the infected person moves their bowels, billions of viruses are passed with the feces. If the soiled hands are not washed properly, then the viruses get spread around.
Covid-19 is More Infectious than SARS and MERS
The shell of Covid-19 is more durable than that of the MERS but similar to the SARS. The difference between the Covid-19 and MERS is that there is no evidence that MERS gets transmitted fecal-orally.
Between the Covid-19 and the SARS, the Covid-19 has 10-20 times more affinity to human cells than the SARS, which makes them attack more to human cells. Furthermore, Covid-19 is more efficient in using the human cells based on a report from Lancet
The binding affinity of ACE2 receptors is one of the most important determinants of infectivity, and structural analyses predict that SARS-CoV-2 not only uses ACE2 as its host receptor, but uses human ACE2 more efficiently than the 2003 strain of SARS-CoV (although less efficiently than the 2002 strain).
A study has shown that people usually touch their faces about 23 times an hour. Any part of the face we touch, including the eyes, can eventually reach the nose and get to the respiratory tract. Once there, the virus starts to destroy the protective lining, and then the germs multiply.
That is why whether the Covid-19 came from the lungs or the gut, it can still survive for 9 days. If you add the 14 days of the incubation period of an asymptomatic carrier who can spread the disease to 9 days of Covid-19 survival on a surface, the total will be 23 days that the person can spread the virus unknowingly.
Multiply that 23 days with the number of surfaces the carrier will touch and then think about the number of carriers out there.
Hand-washing is Important
Do an experiment next time you are out. Count how the surfaces that your hands will touch that have been contaminated by hundreds of people. Then multiply by 9 days. That’s a lot!
It is essential to wash the hands adequately. The articles below have information that are not commonly known on how to prevent contamination and disinfection.
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Don’t Get Sick!
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