12-03-2020, 12:15 AM
This virus, like many others, is held together with a lipid shell. It is impermeable to water and charged ions so what's outside stays out and what's inside stays in, until it attaches to a cell in the body (lipids will attach to lipids) where it combines and its RNA then splices inside the cell and starts copying itself until the cell 'cannae take no more captain', explodes and sends loads more virus RNA to neighbouring cells. That's how it spreads through the body. It will quite happily sit on a surface until it is picked up and then transferred inside the body.
Lipids - basically fats - have a simple vulnerability though. They are easily digested by surfactants. Such as soap. So washing of hands is one simple way of reducing the risk of transferring any virus from outside the body (e.g. touching an infected door handle) to inside the body (e.g. then touching your mouth/nose/eyes). In fact it's the most effective way apart from setting fire to the little bastards - burning your hands off is probably a little extreme. Soap causes the virus to fall apart, the water washes it all away and it's rendered inactive.
The chemistry is a bit more complicated than that but in simple terms there is a valid reason why hand washing is recommended as a preventative measure. Other than confining everyone to their homes for 3 weeks, the spread is inevitable. It's all about reducing the risks on an individual level and slowing down the spread on a herd level. Like other viruses it is mostly contagious before the main symptoms are noticed. Everyone coughs and sneezes a couple of times without there being any indication of anything being wrong. It could be dust, pollen, animal furs or bacteria trying to enter the body. It's the first line of defence. When the proper symptoms take hold that's the body's immune system going to war with the infected cells. Except the immune system doesn't know which cells are infected so it just attacks them all with anti-bodies.
BTW we, as mammals, have a strand of RNA from an ancient virus in our DNA that prevents us from being rejected from our mothers' wombs (most of the time) as foetuses. It's what allows us (well wimminses anyway) to carry bairns inside us instead of laying eggs. The body sees it as normal cell growth and division.
It's fucking fascinating stuff and reading up on virology should help while away those lonely weeks of self isolation.
Lipids - basically fats - have a simple vulnerability though. They are easily digested by surfactants. Such as soap. So washing of hands is one simple way of reducing the risk of transferring any virus from outside the body (e.g. touching an infected door handle) to inside the body (e.g. then touching your mouth/nose/eyes). In fact it's the most effective way apart from setting fire to the little bastards - burning your hands off is probably a little extreme. Soap causes the virus to fall apart, the water washes it all away and it's rendered inactive.
The chemistry is a bit more complicated than that but in simple terms there is a valid reason why hand washing is recommended as a preventative measure. Other than confining everyone to their homes for 3 weeks, the spread is inevitable. It's all about reducing the risks on an individual level and slowing down the spread on a herd level. Like other viruses it is mostly contagious before the main symptoms are noticed. Everyone coughs and sneezes a couple of times without there being any indication of anything being wrong. It could be dust, pollen, animal furs or bacteria trying to enter the body. It's the first line of defence. When the proper symptoms take hold that's the body's immune system going to war with the infected cells. Except the immune system doesn't know which cells are infected so it just attacks them all with anti-bodies.
BTW we, as mammals, have a strand of RNA from an ancient virus in our DNA that prevents us from being rejected from our mothers' wombs (most of the time) as foetuses. It's what allows us (well wimminses anyway) to carry bairns inside us instead of laying eggs. The body sees it as normal cell growth and division.
It's fucking fascinating stuff and reading up on virology should help while away those lonely weeks of self isolation.