COVID 19 From Epidemiology to Treatment and Cure

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 ships contracted the virus over a short period of time. It has also been speculated that the virus penetrates the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and thus takes control of the host through the lungs where the ACE2 receptors are most abundant. The reason for the seriousness of the spread in China has been that Asians have twice as many ACE2 receptors in their body as white people.
Diagnosis and Prognosis
One of the more mysterious characteristics of COVID 19 is that one can be a carrier of the coronavirus and yet be completely asymptomatic (Chen et al., 2020). Those who do exhibit signs of infection tend to have flu-like symptoms, especially if the person is already suffering from prior health issues. Symptoms can range from fever to cough to breathing difficulties, muscle pain, headache, confusion, loss of energy, sore throat, chest pain, and even nausea (Chen et al., 2020). Pneumonia can quickly develop in patients if not treated right away.
However, because cases of the virus are still being studied, there is no clear cut analysis of what symptoms are readily linked with COVID 19. Some who present experience chest pain and palpitations. Others have shortness of breath. Still others show no signs of infection or symptoms at all and would not even be clinically diagnosed as having COVID 19 for that reason—though they are still being counted as infected persons by most media outlets (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015). By far the most common symptoms are fever, cough and fatigue, and it is as of yet unclear what percentage of the population may carry the virus without ever showing symptoms at all.
Treatment or Testing
Because randomized testing of the public at large has not been conducted in the US it is impossible to fully understand the epidemiology of the disease and anyone purporting to understand it is simply engaging in pure and unbridled speculation. Epidemiology cannot be known without the randomized testing of a significantly sized sample population in order for validity and generalizeability to be obtained in the research. Epidemiology focuses on the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases—and if it is not known what percentage of the population has actually already contracted the virus and been unaffected by it, it is impossible to know what the mortality rate actually is. Every outlet purporting to know the death rate is simply speculating based on numbers of tested persons—but the public at large has not been tested and it is quite likely that a vast number of the public has already been infected with the disease, suffered mild symptoms, and has moved 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 people lose jobs all to protect the health of the elderly with underlying symptoms, there is so much confusion on this point.
References
Baier, B. & Re,G. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-wuhan-lab-china-compete-us-sources
BMJ. (2020). COVID 19. Retrieved from https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-us/3000168/aetiology
Chen, N., Zhou, M., Dong, X., Qu, J., Gong, F., Han, Y., ... & Yu, T. (2020). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. The Lancet, 395(10223), 507-513.
Hansen, M. (2020). 12 Autopsy Cases Reveal TRUTH About How Patients Die From Coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6h8TIxeg1g
Herman, S. (2020). Trump Defends Use of Hydroxychloroquine. Retrieved from https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/trump-defends-use-hydroxychloroquine
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2015). Improving diagnosis in health care. National Academies Press.