Pandemics – a little more to spread than virus…

Why the spread ?

Talk about Ebola , Swine Flu or AIDS, no continent is devoid of them. They spread like a swarm of flies searching for their ‘prey’ in the form of animal cells. To some animals, they tag them as ‘hosts’ to serve them food, provide them shelter and a place to grow, a place where they can reproduce and provide their progenies with the same urge to search for ‘host’ and ‘prey’.

Pandemics are different from epidemics in the sense that they have already spread across the seas and proved havoc outside their place of origin. Take for instance, swine flu. The Swine Flu virus ( better known as H1N1) originated in the grasslands of US, spread via Mexico and Brazil, to Europe; and trolling over the edge of Africa (Egypt), finally found its place among populations of Asia.

How is it that a viral disease spread so rapidly all around the world ?

The simple answer being that viruses are clever intruders to our cells. They act like parasites but think like bacteria. Bacteria being large and easily recognizable, can be easily and meaningfully destroyed by various medical procedures. Clever virus on the other hand, can act like tiny clowns.They can disguise themselves so rapidly that they do not give the antibody army to capture them in time. Also, their ‘adjusting’ nature to varying environments helps them survive even the extremities.

 What then we must do to prevent the virus from spreading ?

First and most important thing is to LISTEN to the orders and notifications issued by various government and international health agencies and ABIDE by their rules. Secondly, despite the ever-changing effectiveness of the available vaccines, it is always a good option to take it as a prophylactic. Thirdly, keeping environments sterile and Isolating individuals who are victims from coming in contact with healthy ones is not bad at all. The best way to kill a virus is to constrict its pool of ‘preys’ and even more convenient is to restrict them. Fourth and most importantly, it is the responsibility of the educated lot to educate the uneducated about the ways to confront such conditions. The more awareness we have, the weaker the virus gets.

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