MORE worrisome than the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the panic it engenders for being “incurable”. It has made people minimize travel and public exposure, thus devastating trade and commerce, especially the tourism industry.
Sad to say, media hype has made it sound as if the conditions prevailing in the Philippines were as alarming as in COVID’s “territory” at Wuhan City, China.
Updated statistics on the killer virus, however, show an insignificant number of cases when viewed against population density. In this world of eight billion people, one hundred thousand COVID cases (specifically 119,176 as of yesterday) are like a few grains in a sack of sand.
Out of 119,176 recorded victims worldwide (since Dec. 31, 2019), the majority or 66,617 have fully recovered while only 4,295 have died.
Around two-thirds (80,778) are from China, with 3,158 government-reported fatalities.
As of yesterday, the Philippines had only 33 confirmed cases, with only one fatality. For this country of 109 million people, that’s surmountable.
As in dengue cases, a COVID-infected patient has good chances of recovering while tethered to dextrose and oxygen. This should assuage Filipinos who fear catching COVID.
Coronavirus has an average lifespan of one week on an inanimate object – a light switch or elevator button, for example – or longer in a human body.
It is by outliving the virus – despite no known cure for the disease – that the patient would recover.
But of course, since prevention is better than cure, it is best to beware of “easy contamination,” which is possible by touching any object that has the virus on it, and then later touching one’s own mouth, nose or eyes.
The doctors I have talked to are unanimous in their opinion that, where contamination has already set in, the only available and statistically proven way to fight for life is to rely on a strong immune system.
On the immune system, I sought my sister, Dr. Azucena Vego-Pe, a physician and lecturer on infectious disease, for vital information on how it works.
During a bacterial or viral infection, our white blood cells attack the antigens (invaders) at the site of the infection, breaking them apart. The first line of defense is followed up by a second batch of white cells that engulf both the offending and defending cells, thus eliminating them and their consequential toxins.
This “war,” unfortunately, restricts the blood supply to the digestive system, causing loss of appetite and raising fever level. Such changes, nevertheless, speed up chemical reactions needed for recovery.
Once the infection is controlled, the macrophages return to the lymphoid tissue with the particles of the destroyed antigens. A later infection by the same antigens is recognized and warded off easily. This “memory” enables the immune system to rapidly subdue the antigen whenever it comes back.
The long-time memory of the immune system is the key to the success of vaccination, which is the injection into the body of a weakened or dead strain of the antigen.
It takes a longer time for the immune system to marshal its forces in a first-time encounter with a serious disease.
The so-called germline theory postulates that an infant inherits antibodies from the parents. Another theory, the somatic mutation theory, states that only a few antibodies from the mother are passed to the infant through the placenta and breast milk, but these few mutate. No wonder breastfeeding protects children against infection.
The ways we think, eat and exercise contribute to some degree in cultivating the immune system.
If we abuse our health, our immune system could weaken and give up. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
