You can catch a virus at anytime, any day of the year. About half of America’s populations don’t know how to correctly get rid of a virus or the symptoms of a virus people get every day. If you don’t know, a virus is a sickness that attaches its self to a host’s cell that is unable to grow or reproduce when not attached to a host (Dictionary). Viruses aren’t always bad; they have a good side about them too. Even though viruses get people sick every day, many people don't know the key things about them such as symptoms and ways that viruses are good for us.
Some viruses people catch every day. A few of the three most common viruses are small pox, cold sores, and influenza (Fisher). The ways you can tell if you have one of these viruses are called symptoms. The first symptoms of smallpox start two weeks before the peak of the illness, but after 14 to 17 days you can’t infect any one. Before the 14 to 17 days you can infect anyone that you come in contact with. If you have any of these symptoms: fever, body discomfort, headache, back pain, puking, or diarrhea you might have small pox (Mayo Clinic). Small pox has been around for years and has killed millions of people. The next virus is influenza, this virus is also known as the flu. There are a numerous different types of influenza such as the stomach flu, bird flu, and the swine flu. People have to suffer through the flu every day and it spread very quickly. The symptoms of influenza are very severe and can last for a long time. Symptoms of influenza are: fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, vomiting and body ache (Mayo Clinic). Many types of flu have come from animals or mammals, such as the bird and swine flu. The last of the three types of viruses I am listing is cold sore. Cold sores are red blister like bubbles by your mouth. They can be spread by sharing lip gloss, lip balm, or kissing. The symptoms of cold sores are different than many viruses. These symptoms are all near the mouth. The symptoms are: a small but very painful blister on your lip area and a tingly feeling around on your lips. These symptoms usually last about 10 to 14 days (Mayo Clinic). There are many viruses and these are only a few but people get sick from viruses every day.
Every time you catch a virus, some of your cells and organisms are being affected or killed. Viruses attack all things, for example animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. A virus cannot move or live by itself, but it can go into a host’s body in several ways. It can be carried by another host, inhaled, or even blown into you by the wind. If you come in contact with someone that has a virus even just the simplest touch of their hand you could get sick. Many people don’t know how a virus actually attaches and spreads throughout your body. First the virus tries to enter the cell, and then the DNA brings in the virus. The virus then infects the cell and the virus spreads and spreads inside the cell. The cell then bursts and the virus spreads throughout the body from cell to cell (Fisher). The quicker the cell bursts, the quicker the virus spreads throughout your body. When you hear to drink lots of Vitamin C when you have a specific illness, that is because Vitamin C helps build your immune system and help your cells fight off the virus. So far it seems that all viruses are, are bad for us but you will soon be notified that that is not the case.
Viruses can be bad because they kill your cells but they can be both harmful and helpful. As you can tell so far all of the facts you have learned about viruses are bad, but they can help us too. Viruses are used in vaccines (shots) to prevent diseases. A vaccine is made from weakened virus particles that can’t cause disease. They take very weak viruses and put them into shots to help avoid diseases. That might sound crazy but the strength of the virus is so petite that it cannot turn into anything that can get us sick (Carr). Without viruses we wouldn’t have shots so that means we might have more diseases and more people would die. This proves that viruses are in fact substantial and superior.
In conclusion, people don’t know a lot about viruses that they should; they aren’t only bad they help us by preventing diseases. Viruses might get people sick all the time, but lots of people everywhere don't know the key characteristics of them. Viruses do infect specific tissue in the body and make us feel horrible for days sometimes weeks, but they help us because they are in vaccines to prevent diseases (Carr). Next time you have a virus and you are complaining to everyone how horrible you feel remember, some people might be feeling worse than you but because we have viruses some diseases are becoming rarer.
Bibliography
Carr, Karen. "Viruses." 20 March 2012. Kidipede. 16 April 2012
Clinic, Mayo. Syptoms of Viruses. 2 August 2011. 20 April 2012
Dictionary. "Virus." Dictionary.com. 16 APril 2012
Fisher, Douglas. "Science Notebook." Hill, McGraw. Science Glencoe. Ohio, 2009. 54-57.
No comments:
Post a Comment