The effects of the covid coronavirus

The COVID-19 outbreak that first started in Wuhan, China originated from a type of corona virus that has never been found in the human body. The virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, still has quite a lot of mysteries. However, it cannot be denied that the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus are serious enough to cause tens of thousands of casualties.

What's more, the groups who are more prone to develop this disease, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and people who have chronic diseases.

The effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus on groups at risk

Coronavirus is a big umbrella virus that can cause disturbances in the respiratory system. There are quite a lot of types of this virus and some of them can cause disease in humans, such as SARS and MERS.

At the end of 2019, a new type of coronavirus was discovered in China and the initial symptoms of the COVID-19 disease attack the respiratory system of an infected person.

Not a few of the patients who contract the disease called COVID-19 cannot be helped because so much damage is caused by this virus. Therefore, the effect on the COVID-19 coronavirus in groups that are more at risk needs to be watched out for so that their condition does not get worse.

1. Elderly

One of the groups vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus is the elderly. There are two things that underlie this, namely their physical and mental conditions.

First, most elderly people have weak immune systems, so they are more susceptible to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. In addition, they also tend to suffer from other chronic diseases, such as heart, lung, diabetes, and kidney disease.

As a result, their body's ability to fight viral infections has weakened.

Meanwhile, in some countries, the elderly live in places that are regulated by the government or private companies, such as nursing homes or living with busy families. Therefore, their risk of infection is greater.

COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData

1,024,298

Confirmed

831,330

Recovered

28,855

DeathDistribution Map

2. Patients with chronic diseases

Apart from the elderly, another group who is at risk of serious effects from the COVID-19 coronavirus are patients with a history of chronic disease.

Some of you may think that chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease affect people who are over 65 years of age. In fact, even adults can suffer from the same disease when they do not lead a healthy lifestyle.

According to the CDC, here are some medical conditions that have a high risk of developing serious complications, in both adults and the elderly.

a. Respiratory system disorders

One of the chronic diseases that can have an adverse effect from the COVID-19 coronavirus is disorders of the respiratory system, such as asthma.

The reason is, this one virus will attack the respiratory system when someone is infected. For people with strong immunity and no history of chronic disease, it may cause symptoms that are quite mild. However, not for those who have disorders of the respiratory system.

Generally, COVID-19 can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome which damages the lungs. Therefore, COVID-19 patients who have breathing problems, such as asthma, are more prone to develop severe complications that require assistive devices.

b. Heart disease

Those of you who have heart disease may need to be vigilant because the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the heart can actually cause serious conditions.

As previously explained, when viruses enter the body they will attack the lungs. Not only the lungs, the COVID-19 coronavirus also triggers an inflammatory response that puts pressure on the cardiovascular system.

As a result, there will be two possibilities, namely a decrease in blood levels and blood pressure. When this happens, the heart needs to beat faster and harder to supply oxygen to the body. Therefore, COVID-19 can cause a heart attack that is fatal enough to cause death.

c. Diseases that cause immune disorders

Apart from heart disease and respiratory system disorders, the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus on patients with immune disorders are also quite serious. If a person has an immune disorder, their body's ability to fight off and recover from viral infection is reduced.

This condition can occur when they have a disease that affects their immune system, such as cancer, HIV and other diseases. The consumption of drugs used can also affect the immune system. For example, treatments and drugs to fight cancer can cause a person's immune response to weaken.

d. Diabetes

The effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection pose a number of challenges for people with diabetes. How not, diabetes is reported as one of the risk factors for serious complications from COVID-19 because they have to control blood sugar when an outbreak occurs around the world.

People with diabetes have impaired immune response, both to viral infections related to cytokines and changes in immune response. Poor blood sugar control also causes this condition to occur and makes lung infections much worse.

As a result, the body of people with diabetes will find it more difficult to fight viral infections because of the lack of immune response and make the virus spread more quickly, causing death.

3. Pregnant women

So, what about the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the bodies of pregnant women who are infected?

To date, a number of studies are being developed to understand the impact of infection from COVID-19 on pregnant women. With existing data there is no evidence that pregnant women are at risk of developing a severe condition when infected.

However, please note that with changes in the body and immune system, pregnant women are very likely to be affected by respiratory infections.

Therefore, pregnant women are strongly advised not to miss the obstetrician consultation session and continue to make efforts to prevent COVID-19.

4. Smoker

Who doesn't know the dangers of smoking? Starting from coronary heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke, haunt smokers.

Moreover, the presence of the COVID-19 coronavirus which attacks the respiratory system makes the effect of this disease greater in infected smokers.

Cigarettes also have a bad impact on the user's immune system. You see, cigarettes contain various toxic chemical compounds and one of these poisons is a carcinogen that can cause cancer and carbon monoxide. Both of these substances will be inhaled by the respiratory tract and then trigger organ damage.

Therefore, smoking can weaken the function of immune cells and reduce the production of antibodies in humans.

As a result, smokers may be at a higher risk of developing more severe symptoms of COVID-19, such as pneumonia than nonsmokers.

5. Child

The COVID-19 outbreak has indeed caused more than one million cases worldwide. However, the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus is apparently not that great on the health of infected children.

There are cases of death due to COVID-19 in children, but the number is far less than the elderly and adults.

Reporting from Harvard Health Publishing about 90% of children infected with COVID-19 show no symptoms or only experience mild to moderate symptoms. This means that when children get COVID-19, they will show milder symptoms, such as fever and cough.

In some cases there may be some children who experience shortness of breath, but they do not really need oxygen or are in the intensive care unit.

Viruses need proteins on the cell surface aka receptors to enter the body and damage organs and coronavirus appears to use the ACE-2 receptor.

It is likely that children have fewer ACE-2 receptors in the lungs than in the upper respiratory tract.

Therefore, children often experience mild symptoms, such as coughing and fever because the virus only attacks the upper respiratory tract, namely the nose, mouth and throat.

In essence, the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus will be different for each person, depending on how their immune system and health at that time. Therefore, maintaining health and cleanliness is the main key so that viral infection does not cause serious conditions.