Health & Beauty
BY KATE SAGE, D.O.
LEARNING ABOUT A VIRUS B
efore starting with viruses, and what they are, and how they infect people, it’s worth taking a step back to discuss the different types of organisms that live on this planet. The main ones that infect people are bacteria, fungus and viruses.
Bacteria
Bacteria are tiny one celled organisms that live everywhere and on everything. For example, there are up to 50,000 different types of bacteria that live in soil. Not all bacteria harm or infect humans. Some are helpful, like the bacteria that live in our gut to help us digest. Bacteria usually have DNA like humans do, and can reproduce on their own. There are types of bacteria that live in our mouth, noses, gut, on our skin, and everywhere in between. Sometimes the bacteria that live on or in human bodies can become “opportunistic” and cause an infection after living peacefully for years. Staphylococcus, or “Staph” is a prime example of this. If tested with a swab, every single person would grow some type of Staph in a petri dish. But in the right circumstances, for example in a cut or a wound, that same Staph can cause an infection. Antibiotics can kill bacteria. However, bacteria can mutate, and some strains of bacteria are now antibiotic resistant. Staphylococcus is again a good example of this, and MRSA is a strain of Staph that is resistant to many types of antibiotics. Some commonly known bacterial infections include pneumonia, tetanus, meningitis, and whooping cough.
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Fungus
A fungus is a species that is made from a spore. This includes yeast, mold, and mushrooms. It’s able to reproduce on its own. Again, fungus lives everywhere, including on the human body. It doesn’t necessarily cause harm, but it can. Some common examples of fungus are Athletes Foot or vaginal “yeast infections.” There are some that are more dangerous, including a few that can be inhaled and cause lung disease.
Virus
Viruses are much smaller. They’re not considered living because they need a host to survive. They can’t reproduce on their own. They’re not made of cells, and basically are just little packages of DNA/RNA that attack living cells and commandeer them to reproduce and make more virus cells. Human immune systems can fight a virus by creating antibodies to the virus. Viruses can mutate though, so when the viral DNA/RNA changes, they can re-infect a host. Some common examples of viruses are influenza (‘the flu”), the common cold (e.g., a rhinovirus), and some of the stomach illnesses that cause vomiting and diarrhea (e.g., a norovirus). Antibiotics don’t work for viruses. However, there are some anti-viral medications that can slow the spread of the virus in the body, and make the illness last a shorter amount of time or be less severe. Tamiflu is an example of this for the flu. It’s not an antibiotic and it does not kill the flu virus. It does stop the flu virus from mutating in the human body and therefore slows it down.
Women’s LifeStyle Magazine • June 2020
