COVID-19, an event that changed humanity
COVID-19, a sad recent story.
That unforgettable December of 2019, international news reported thousands of cases of a strange pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, China. We were far from imagining that this fearsome disease would reach us. Very late, in March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Initial reports of the disease's symptoms included fever, fatigue, cough, and difficulty breathing. The cause of the disease was identified as a novel coronavirus, which the WHO named COVID-19, while the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) named it SARS-CoV-2.
SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the group of viruses that cause respiratory infections. This means they are pathogens that invade and proliferate in the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. Epithelium is a tissue made up of tightly packed cells that lines the skin and some internal organs. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium, which has the function of moistening and protecting it. This virus produces systemic respiratory symptoms that can manifest as fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, headache, or chest pain. Loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, as well as skin rashes, may also occur.
We have seen that this virus can severely affect older adults and people who have underlying conditions including asthma, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 1 and 2 diabetes, obesity, chronic lung disease, weakened immune system, liver disease, chronic kidney disease, and other chronic illnesses.
It has been observed that the disease can be mild in children, and some adults may experience few or no symptoms. For the general population, until a vaccine is available, the key to protection lies in taking preventive measures (social distancing, effective handwashing, use of disinfectants) and, fundamentally, strengthening the body's natural defenses.