About SARS CoV-2

About SARS CoV-2

The virus is defined as “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2)” and the disease is defined as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is an abbreviation formed from the letters of the English definition of the disease caused by the coronavirus (Coronavirus disease). The number 19 at the end indicates the year 2019 when it emerged.

The COVID-19 outbreak is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a large family of viruses, many of which cause respiratory diseases in humans, ranging from the common cold to more rare and serious diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Both have high mortality rates and were first identified in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

Coronaviruses are single-stranded, positive-sense, enveloped RNA viruses. Because they are positively polarized, they do not contain the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase enzyme, but they encode this enzyme in their genome. They have rod-like extensions on their surface. Based on the Latin meaning of these protrusions, "corona", that is, "crown", these viruses were named Coronavirus (crowned virus).

Properties

There are four types of CoV's:

•  Alfa- CoV.
• Beta- CoV.
• Gama- CoV.
• Delta-CoV.

All CoVs currently known to cause disease in humans belong to alpha or beta-CoV. Many of these CoVs can also infect several animal species. In 2002, SARS-CoV-infected civets and humans were detected and in 2012 MERS-CoV was seen in dromedary camels and infected humans. A virus that is regularly transmitted from an animal to a human is called a zoonotic virus. When a virus first passes from animals to humans, it is called a spread event.

Ways of Getting Infected

Possible transmission routes for SARS-CoV-2 are droplet, airborne, direct contact, indirect contact, fecal-oral, blood-borne, from mother to child and from animal to human. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes respiratory illness ranging from mild illness to severe illness and death, and some people infected with the virus 8 never develop symptoms. One of the important issues for every epidemic is to know the transmission ways of the infectious agent that causes the disease. It is transmitted by coughing and sneezing of sick individuals and inhaling the droplets scattered in the environment. After touching surfaces contaminated with respiratory particles, the virus can also be received by taking the hands to the face, eyes, nose or mouth without washing them. Touching your eyes, nose or mouth with dirty hands is risky.

This content was updated on 24/01/2022.