Dear Reader:

1. Infections are caused by the following: bacteria (ex., tuberculosis, spreads via air droplets, coughs, spit, etc., target the  lungs, but in people with weakened immune system, it targets the central nervous system, the reproductive and urinary organs, bones and joints and more), protozoa (ex. Malaria, spread via mosquito bites, targets the liver, Cryptosporidiosis targets the intestines), fungi (ex., Cryptococcosis, spread by seeds and spores in the air, targets the brain, lungs), and viruses.

Viral infections: different viruses target different locations in the body. Examples: viral meningitis, rabies, and polio target the brain and spina chord, Myocarditis targets the heart, and herpes targets the mouth, lips, nose or genitals. Influenza target the respiratory system from the nose down to the lungs, and Covid-19 targets primarily the lungs.

The target location of a virus depends on where in the body there is a receptors/a binding opportunity for the virus (a specific enzyme that will dissolve the protein covering of the virus). The receptor for Cov-2 are is the  ACE2 enzyme (Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2). This enzyme is attached to the outer surface of cells (the cell membrane) primarily in the lungs, but also elsewhere in the body: in the inside of blood vessels and the intestines, in the heart,  kidneys, brain and the liver, almost everywhere in the body.

Cov-2 like other coronaviruses favors the lungs (causing cough, shortness of breath, etc.), but in some patients it targets blood vessels (causing blood clots), the brain (causing headaches and the loss of the ability to smell)  muscles (causing muscle pain), etc.

www. man. com/ en-us/.. health news/kidney injury seen in one third of hospitalized virus patients (yesterday): “A large- scale study out of New York’s Northwell Health adds to the evidence hat kidney injury is linked to Covid-19 hospitalizations. Doctors across the Northwell hospital system reported an ‘alarming amount’ of hospitalized coronavirus patients developed acute kidney injury (AKI) during the height of the pandemic.. Most cases of AKI were developed early in a patient’s Covid-19 hospitalization. About 37% either arrived at the hospital with AKI or developed it within 24 hours.. The researcher also found a ‘substantial’ link between respiratory failure and AKI. Nearly 90% of patients who required mechanical ventilation developed AKI. Only 21.7% of non-ventilated patients developed it”

* My note: seems like Cov-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, attacks mostly the old, most having pre-existing health conditions, and therefore, weakened immune systems, as well as younger people with pre-existing health conditions, and therefore weakened immune system, infecting the hell out of their lungs and then wreaking havoc elsewhere in their bodies while at it, infecting the kidneys and other organs as well as the blood vessels, causing blood clots etc.

On the other hand, this virus doesn’t bother the young and healthy much: either causing no symptoms at all, or causing mild common flu like symptoms (infecting the upper respiratory system only), or causing moderate flu like symptoms (infecting the lower respiratory system).

2. An article in www. msn. com/en-us/ us coronavirus curve may be flattening but estimated death toll keeps rising what does this mean, yesterday, regarding the US:  “data points to a decline in new cases and mortality rates. However.. with antibody testing still in the nascent (just coming into existence) stages, and the unavailability of therapies or vaccines, the population remains vulnerable.. The nation must get to the ‘endemic phase’ of the infection- a containable level at which it could remain long term, such as chicken pox- before we can confidently start talking about the end of the pandemic.. we are not close to that yet.. Dr. Anthony Fauci.. says don’t expect Covid-19 t disappear from the nation or the national psyche until a vaccine is developed and widely distributed… Fauci said he was hopeful a safe, effective vaccine could be developed by winter… Researchers at Oxford University are the most optimistic: they hope to have 1 million vaccine doses by September.”

3. Other than worldometer, these two websites also provide numbers and statistics on Covid-19:

gisanddata. maps. arcgis. com/ apps/ opsdashboard,    and www. healthdata. org.

anita