COVID 19 From Epidemiology to Treatment and Cure Essay

COVID-19

Background

The novel coronavirus spreading the COVID 19 disease first appeared in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and quickly spread around the world. The infectious disease is a new form of a previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) and has led to nationwide lockdowns from the East to the West. Coronavirus-19 Severe Acute Respitory Syndrome Coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2)n is a Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Primarily lung problem. Autopsy results showed on 12 people that most common pre-existing conditions making them susceptible to dying were coronary heart disease and asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease making them more vulnerable to the disease/death (Hansen, 2020).

Etiology

The etiology of COVID 19 is still unknown. It was initially suspected that animal to human transfer took place at a Wuhan wet market in China (BMJ, 2020). However, scientists have since come to suspect that coronavirus may have escaped from a biological weapons lab in Wuhan (Baier & Re, 2020). The coronavirus is part of the SARS family of flu viruses, and yet there are elements of it that appear to have mutated and changed even since it was first identified back in December 2019 (BMJ, 2020). Thus, having a clear picture of the disease at this time is not quite possible, and one of the big problems is China itself. The World Health Organization has lauded China for being transparent, but the US is currently in a political and economic war with China and has accused China of failing to assist with allowing scientists in to study the disease. So the question of etiology remains open at this time.

Epidemiology

It is believed that Person-to-person spread occurs in communities and gatherings, which is why much of the world has adopted a quarantine protocol, with mask-wearing and social distancing being implemented to stop the spread (BMJ, 2020). Healthcare settings have also been seen as an area where transmission can occur and this has led healthcare workers to put COVID patients on ventilators to reduce the risk of spreading the disease. Still, it is unclear just how the virus spreads from person to person, whether through droplets, aerosol transmission, sneezing, coughing, direct contact, or whether it can be obtained from touching surfaces where the disease can live (BMJ, 2020). Aside from the question of where the virus came from, what is still debated, too, is how the virus spreads. It is believed that the primary method of transmission is small droplets that contain a high viral load and that are transmitted from coughing, sneezing or talking to others. Some have speculated that the virus can be airborne and transmitted simply from breathing the same air as those who are infected. This speculation was largely born from the fact that so many passengers on cruise…

Some parts of this document are missing

Click here to view full document

…on.

Nonetheless, there has been a great deal of discussion about antibodies, immunities, and vaccinations in the past few weeks in the US, with Bill Gates appearing predominantly on cable talk shows to plug his work within the vaccination industry and the need for developing a way to monitor who has been vaccinated and who has not. The problem with all of this is that vaccinations of the flu difficult because of the tendency for the flu to mutate over time. Another problem is that vaccinations are suspected by a signification percentage of the population who view them as unhealthy. Third, there is a problem regarding the issue of consent, particularly as the “my body, my choice” mantra runs both ways.

Pharmacology

Even pharmacological intervention is not without its controversy. Some doctors and even President Trump has promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine (Herman, 2020). The drug is used to treat malaria patients but some research has shown it is also effective in treating COVID 19, though other research suggests it has risks for heart attack as well (Herman, 2020). The controversial use of hydroxychloroquine has been politicized in the US primarily because everything that President Trump says is good the mainstream media tends to say is bad, and with scientists like Dr. Fauci posing contradictory remarks about what is good for society and for health, recommending shutdowns while suicide rates soar and…