How is COVID-19 Different from the Coronavirus?
Anika H Ahmed, MD
Coronavirus is an interesting name to give to a virus. Corona means ‘Crown’. Coronavirus is a family of viruses named as such because it looks like a crown under a microscope. Its surface has multiple spikes all over that helps it stick to various surfaces. COVID-19 is also from the same family of coronaviruses and looks like a crown under a microscope with multiple spikes all over its surface that helps it cling and stick to various surfaces. Coronavirus can cause serious diseases and has been responsible for major epidemics of Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the past. So how is COVID-19 different from SARS and MERS? The main difference between COVID-19 and SARS and MERS is in the ASYMPTOMATIC PERIOD. SARS also came as a novel virus in 2002 and the pandemic ended in 2004. It was NOT transmitted until the symptoms came. Similarly, MERS appeared in 2012, contracted from animals into humans, and person to person contact was not easy unless there was a prolonged close contact, mostly seen in hospital workers or health care givers. Today we are dealing with COVID-19 which is again from the same Coronavirus family. The question is: how is COVID-19 different from the other Coronaviruses that we have dealt with in the past? COVID-19 is too NOVEL meaning that it has never been on the surface of the earth before. The other major difference is that COVID-19 has a wide range of ASYMPTOMATIC CARRIER STAGE! Some people are completely asymptomatic the entire time or are asymptomatic for at least a few days before symptoms start and can still transmit the virus. The asymptomatic transmission was NOT seen with SARS and MERS that is seen with COVID-19.
COVID-19 started from an animal population and was transmitted to humans, followed by human to human transmission, by way of droplet infection. Today it is more deadly and fatal than SARS and MERS because it is NEW to our immune system. This new strain of virus is a mutation of the previously existing coronaviruses. As it is a new strain, it is foreign to our immune system’s normal code on how to combat threats. Once COVID-19 enters a human body, due to the immune system’s low defense, COVID-19 is able to multiply in the respiratory tracts, causing increased cellular damage and producing inflammatory cells that lead to serious life-threatening respiratory symptoms. The fact that it is new, and we do not yet have a vaccine for it, makes it different and fatal than the other coronaviruses. The symptoms could be different in every single human being, depending on the individual immune system and any underlying chronic medical conditions. As our immune systems have not yet seen anything like COVID-19, our systems have no immunity established on first exposure. This is the reason for which infected bodies are having difficulty combatting this virus currently.
But do not be too alarmed! Although these coronaviruses are very infectious and can stick to various surfaces, they still can be easily killed with disinfectants. That is why it is highly recommended these days to spray disinfectants on all packages, mail, and hard surfaces to minimize the risk of the virus, which stays alive by sticking to these surfaces. Although our immune systems are not yet equipped to defend our bodies from COVID-19, we can serve as barriers and support our immune system by blocking entry into our bodies by using good hygiene habits.