CORONAVIRUS-Don’t Be Afraid. Be ALERT.

Life of everybody is at stake. POSITIVE became the most negative word last year and still continues….

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What Is A Virus ?

Virus is a minute non living i.e. acellular structure even smaller than a bacterium that cannot be seen with a naked eye. It may contain either DNA or RNA as genetic material and will never contain both.

What Are The Basic Properties Of Viruses ?

1. It is the smallest infectious agent visible under the microscope and not with the naked eye.
2. It cannot survive outside the living host cell (man, animal, plant, bacteria or any other parasite) as it cannot grow and multiply without the host cell machinery.
3. It lacks its own cellular organization and is composed of molecules like proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, etc.
4. It can contain either DNA or RNA but never both.
5. It causes a massive range of human diseases ranging from common cold to fatal diseases like HIV, others and now even COVID.
6. Virus can mutate.

All About Corona Virus Disease ( COVID )..

COVID is an infectious disease caused by corona virus.

How does it spread ?

It spreads by direct contact with the person if he sneezes or coughs in close proximity to you or by indirect contact by touching the surfaces that contain droplets or virus on and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Remember, this virus can enter your body through your body fluids only and not directly through skin.

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What does it causes and how does it affect the body ?

Most people suffering with COVID-19 will have mild to moderate symptoms and will recover without any special treatment. But the older generation or those with any underlying medical illness or low immunity are more prone to develop serious illness and it may be fatal as well.

It mainly affects the respiratory system but can also affect other major systems of the body like cardiovascular system, etc.

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Most common symptoms :

1. Fever
2. Dry Cough
3. Fatigue

Less common symptoms :

1. Sore throat
2. Headache
3. Aches and pains
4. Loss of taste and smell sensation
5. Diarrhoea
6. Conjunctivitis
7. Discolouration of fingers or toes or rashes

Serious symptoms :

1. Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath.
2. Chest pain or pressure.
3. Loss of speech or movement.

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People with mild to moderate symptoms can isolate and treat themselves at home but those with severe symptoms should seek immediate medical help.

Treatment of Viral Disease.

Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do no kill viruses as it dies only once it completes its lifecycle.

Then What Does the Antiviral Drugs do ?

Antiviral drugs do not kill their target pathogens instead, increase the host’s resistance towards it or will suppress its adsorption or diffusion into the cell or stop its development.

Other medications that are given along with antiviral drugs are to suppress the symptoms mainly.

The incubation period of this virus is generally 5–6 days but can also extend upto 14 days. Incubation period is the time from the entry of virus into the body till it shows its first symptom.

Medications that are given mainly include:

1. Antiviral drugs
2. Analgesics
3. Antipyretics
4. Antihistamines
5. Corticosteroids
6. Vitamins

STANDARD TREATMENT PROTOCOL ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA FOR MILD CASES

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<CONSULT DOCTOR ONCE OVER PHONE BEFORE TAKING ANY MEDICINE>

For Adults :

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1. IVERMECTIN — 12 mg once a day for 3 days. To be taken 2 hours after the dinner.
2. DOXYCYCLINE — 100 mg twice a day for 5 days.
3. PARACETAMOL — 500 mg or 650 mg SOS, only in case of fever.
4. TAB VITAMIN C — 500 mg. One tablet. Thrice daily for 10 days.
5. TAB ZINC — 50 mg. 1 tablet. Twice daily for adults for 10 days.
6. TAB/CAP B COMPLEX — Once daily for 10 days.
7. VITAMIN D3–60k tablet. once a week. Take with water or milk for 3 weeks.
8. STEAM INHALATION — 3–4 times daily.
9. BITADINE gargle.
10. BREATHING EXERCISES/ PRANAYAM — 40–50 min daily ( only if you feel uncomfortable ). Monitoring of respiratory rate and oxygen saturation with pulse oximeter. At least 4 times daily. ( SATURATION SHOULD BE ABOVE 94% )
11. PLENTY OF LUKEWARM WATER — 3–4 litres per day.

• Continue medication for diabetes/hypertension/any other chronic disease. If already being taken, consult your doctor or physician.

For Pregnant Women And Lactating Mothers :

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Instead of Ivermectin or Doxycycline, give Azithromycin 500 mg once a day. Rest medication is the same as adults.

For Children Below 12 Years :

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1. SYRUP OR TAB ZINC — 5 mg/ml once a day for 10 days.
2. VITAMIN D3–60k tablet weekly for 4 weeks.
3. SYRUP PARACETAMOL — As SOS for fever ( dose as per body weight 15mg/kg )
4. TAB OR SYRUP AZITHROMYCIN — For 5 days ( dose as per body weight 10 mg/kg )
5. HYDRATE well and MILK with TURMERIC .
6. STEAM and GARGLE frequency are the same as adults.

What Is The Best Treatment For COVID ?

The answer to this is “ PRECAUTION.”

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1. WASH YOUR HANDS — Do it as frequently as you can especially after going to bathroom, before eating and after coughing or sneezing . Wash your hands with plain soap and water upside down, in and out, between fingers and rub knuckles over palm for good 20 seconds each time you wash. It helps to remove any virus that you have on your hands.
2. SANITIZE — At some places or not every time it is possible to wash your hands. So for those instances, use a sanitizer with high percentage of alcohol not less than 80%. *CAUTION- Beware that you may not do any work related to fire before the sanitizer evaporates or else you may get burns. Sanitize the surfaces as well because the droplets are so heavy that they do not hang in air instead fall off on the surfaces .

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3. WEAR MASK — As it is already been told that this virus enters your body only through body fluids therefore, wear a mask upto your nose so that if at all the virus is on your hand, it does not come in contact with your body fluids through your mouth or nose and hence will not enter your body. If it does not enter your body, it will anyway not survive as I already mentioned it earlier that it can grow and multiply only in the living host cell and not outside it.

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4. SOCIAL DISTANCING — Maintain a good atleast 6 feet distance from others. It has a reason. As I mentioned earlier that this virus has no growth or multiplication outside the host cell. So, if you are at a distance from the infected person, it will not enter your body and will not replicate. Therefore, it will protect you and the country as their number will then decrease and it will die sooner. It really needs the host cell to survive so do not give it a chance to do so.

5. DO NOT RUB YOUR EYES — Because we cannot cover our eyes, so the only fluid left that can be a source for the entry of virus is through eyes. Therefore, keep your hands away from your eyes and do not rub them.

6. HYDRATION — Drink plenty of water. Toxins have a negative impact on our immune system. Water helps to remove toxins from the body. Water is H2O and hence, carries oxygen to the cells .

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7. BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY — If the virus enters your body by any chance, your immune system should be strong enough to fight against it . To boost your immunity, eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, beetroot, fruits especially citrus fruits, milk with turmeric and other superfoods that help improve your immunity. You can also take prescribed vitamins to boost your immunity.

8. ISOLATION — If you encounter the symptoms of COVID, first thing you should do is to NOT panic. If the symptoms are mild, isolate yourself for atleast 14 days as its incubation period can extend till 14 days . It is best if you can isolate for 21 days as the virus will complete its life cycle and will die. Consult your doctor over phone and follow the above mentioned treatment protocol. If the symptoms are serious, immediately seek for medical help.

9. DON’T BE OVERCONFIDENT — If you have not suffered from COVID till now or you have recovered does not mean that you cannot suffer from it or again. Follow all the precautions and instructions till it is completely eradicated from the country or world.

10. VACCINATION — Vaccination does not ensure that you will not get corona positive now. It lowers the severity of symptoms or can fight the mild symptoms. So even if you are vaccinated, you must follow instructions and take precautions .

IS THE VACCINE SAFE ?

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Let us first understand how this mRNA vaccine works.

Unlike many vaccines, this vaccine does not put a weakened or live virus into our body to trigger the immune response so it CANNOT give anyone COVID-19.

Instead, it instructs our cell to make a harmless protein called the “spike protein” which is also present on COVID-19 surface and hence triggers our immune system for making antibodies against it for future infection. Once the instruction is given, the mRNA gets out of the cell.

Our immune system has the property of recognizing the foreign particles and saves it in its memory. Therefore, through vaccine we introduce our immune system to the foreign particle so that when it actually affects our body in future, our immune system is already prepared to fight against it with the antibodies it made earlier due to the vaccine.

This way we protect our body without the risk of getting sick with COVID-19.

So the vaccines are totally SAFE.

The minor symptoms that you get initially are because your immune system is triggered. So do not panic. It is absolutely safe.

Possible Side Effects After Vaccination

You may have some side effects owing to the building of your body protection.

The common side effects are :

1. Pain, redness and swelling on the arm where you got the shot.
2. Fever
3. Chills
4. Muscle pain
5. Fatigue
6. Headache
7. Nausea

Apply a clean, wet and cool cloth over the arm where you got the shot and also exercise your arm. Keep you body hydrated and you may take antipyretic like PARACETAMOL.

Side effects of second shot are worse than that of the first shot. But, again there is nothing to panic as the side effects will disappear in some time or few days.

You should contact the doctor if the side effects do not go in few days or the redness and pain gets worse after 24 hours, on the arm where you got the shot.

IT WILL TAKE TWO WEEKS AFTER THE SECOND SHOT TO GET FULLY VACCINATED.

Even after getting fully vaccinated take all the precautions for your safety as well as other people’s safety as they might not be fully vaccinated till then.

Some new reports have come which claim that the virus has mutated and is not detectable by RT-PCR test now and the results are therefore coming false negative but CT scan of lungs shows ground glass opacification with consolidation. So, even if the report comes negative and you are experiencing symptoms, consult the doctor once again.

IMPORTANT — Maintain your calm and mental peace. Engage yourself in activities that improve your mental health and are fun and knowledgeable. Do not panic.

CONCLUSION

LOCKDOWN or CURFEW is not the permanent solution to stop the wave. If it was so, then the second wave would not have come after the lockdown we had last year. It’s high time that we stop blaming the government or anybody and start taking care of ourselves. Only the above mentioned precautions (if followed by each one of us) and Prayers CAN STOP this wave permanently and save lives.

LIVE WITH A WILL TO SURVIVE……

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