The mystery of coronavirus (COVID-19)

It is the same member of a larger family of the viruses known as coronavirus. They are found everywhere, mostly on animals. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19) outbreak presently on pandemic level is the 3rd coronavirus that has crossed after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-corona Virus-1 (SARS-CoV-1) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Virologists […]

It is the same member of a larger family of the viruses known as coronavirus. They are found everywhere, mostly on animals. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19) outbreak presently on pandemic level is the 3rd coronavirus that has crossed after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-corona Virus-1 (SARS-CoV-1) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Virologists are still struggling to understand the etiology of covid 19 because the behaviour is different from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS.

There are many unknown arguments and counter-arguments by scientists and researchers about covid-19 but what is certain is that covid-19 is not following the same rules as the other viruses like SARS-CoV-1 and MERS because it easily spreads, more aggressive and more lethal.

Another important and surprising issue about covid-19 is that the lethal dose is not very clear,   unlike in other viruses where there is a certain level of lethality in each case i.e lethal dose. In other words, an amount of viruses is required in the lungs before falling sick or eventually killing the patient. The absence of this in coronavirus makes it a very disturbing and challenging task to fully understand. Many researchers are of the belief that covid-19 is a mysterious virus because they still don’t understand it, so also it doesn’t only attack the lungs, it attacks the heart and the liver.

Researchers have reasons to believe that for now, the elderly and people with different underlying health conditions are more likely to get infected by covid-19 because of the decline or weak immune system. It is also believed that the rate of infections in younger people is lower, which makes it very different from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS, but this should not be a reason not  to self-isolate and go out only when it’s absolutely necessary. It only means that these are trends of the covid-19 that were observed which can change at any given time..

Many developed countries are working day and night to develop a vaccine for covid-19 but many virologists and microbiologists believe studying the trajectory of the virus is going to be much more important than producing a vaccine. Some believe that even if a vaccine for covid-19 is finally developed today, it’s not going to make a lot of difference, because vaccine doesn’t work for every individual that gets it. Vaccine is for prevention, which helps immune system to kick start. The immune system is the protecting mechanism; hence the vaccine is just helping in pointing to the immune system the direction to go.

The patient zero argument

Currently, there are debates among researchers that the cases of covid-19 in different countries and continent could not be linked to the fingerprints of the Wuhan virus. In other words, scientists are of the belief that covid-19 virus in other countries  is not genetically the same as the one found in China. This could be attributed to advantageous mutations of virus, thus the information of patient zero in Wuhan is very critical for clear and accurate understanding of the evolution of the virus. Complete stoppage of the spread of covid-19 and faster vaccine development could not be achieved without the information of patient zero.

Based on the trajectory and mode of spread of covid-19 globally, Nigeria is no way near in stopping the spread of covid-19 due to late decision on border and airport closure. Considering the mentality of Nigerians of not following orders without proper enforcement and monitoring.  Nigeria ought to have closed its entry points long before we had a single case. Many analysts believe that it’s a miscalculated decision to allow people from covid-19 hit countries to enter Nigeria and just instruct them to self isolate. Nigeria should have employed the Ugandan strategy, which is  compulsory two weeks quarantine for any individual returning from any country under the government full supervision, after which individuals are tested before being certified to mingle with the general public. Now that the mistake is clear and undeniable, Nigeria should not make another mistake of not locking down the country for atleast 15days after which most of the COVID-19 cases will have manifested, identified and eventually isolated or quarantined.

 

Aliyu Isah Moriki is a microbioligist and public affairs analyst  [email protected]