You may be familiar with this fairy tale in which an acorn drops from a tree onto a silly chicken, who is instantly convinced that the sky is falling. The frightened feather-brain dashes around squawking the bad news to the likes of Ducky Lucky and Henny Penny. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” The panicking pals decide they must rush the news to the king. On the way they meet up with the cunning Foxy Loxy, who lures them into his den and they are never seen or heard from again. The end.
I heard a similar story recently, told not by my mother but by Mama Media. The basic message was “The viruses are coming! The viruses are coming!” Surely you have heard.
Microscopic entities are making macroscopic news. Enterovirus D68 has arrived in our home state. Ebola has landed in our neighbor’s yard. Influenza is coming down the road, and Chikungunya lurks in the alley. If one of these doesn’t get you, there’s always HIV, Hepatitis C and even virus-induced cancer. Foxy Loxy has nothing on these guys.
Now, before you get mad at me for making fun, let me assure you that I take viruses very seriously. There are some extremely scary and dangerous germs out there. It’s the media frenzy that rolls my eyes. Chicken Little does not belong on network television.
I thought this would be a good time for a basic lesson in virology and germ theory. Knowledge is your best weapon in the battle of the microbes, and I want you to stay healthy.
A virus is a little piece of genetic material with a coat on. A virus is not a living thing. It is not even a cell. It does not eat or excrete. It cannot move. It cannot reproduce itself on its own. And yet these miniscule monsters have slain hordes. Witness the tragedy of Ebola, recall the decimation of HIV and read about the devastation of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Viruses also cause minor illness, like colds, rashes, stomach “bugs” and many more. A virus is a kind of germ. Other germs include bacteria, fungi and parasites.
The way a virus works is by hijacking a living cell and taking over the machinery in order to reproduce itself. When a virus lands on a living host, it is pulled inside by the unsuspecting cell membrane. Then the viral DNA or RNA (genetic material) joins itself with the host DNA or RNA and starts the reproductive engine. Cogs spin and whir. New viruses are made and released to go forth and hijack some more. Crank, rev, release. One particle becomes millions, and the result is havoc.
Viruses are loyal beings, mostly specific to their host. Some viruses affect only plants. Others, only penguins. Some can infect multiple animal species, like flu viruses which can transmit disease to humans, birds and pigs. Some viruses only attack bacteria.
Viruses can be carried in body fluids like mucous, vomit, blood or stool. They can ride along on the skin, or swim in saliva. They can enter your body through the bite of an insect or animal. They can hang out on an inanimate object until you touch it and transfer the virus to yourself.
You catch a virus when it comes in contact with a vulnerable part of your body. One of your most vulnerable areas is your friendly face, with open doors in your nose, your mouth, even your eyes. The tissue inside these orifices is especially susceptible to infection and provides an easy way in for intestinal and respiratory viruses.
If you can keep from depositing germs on your face, you will lessen your chance of illness. How? Well, I’m sure you have heard admonitions to wash your hands often. This is good advice, but it isn’t enough.
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You should definitely wash your hands before you purposefully put your hands to your face, as in eating. Regular soap and water is fine if you do a good job; hand sanitizer works too. Wash often and wash well, but even more important is to keep your hands away from your face unless you have to put them there.
Think about everything you touch with your hands throughout the day. You shake a hand or bump a fist. You open a door, turn on a light, pull out a chair. You buy coffee and accept your change. You flush a toilet and turn on a faucet. And all this before lunch. If someone else has deposited their germs on one of the many surfaces you just touched, you can easily catch what they had by touching the surface and then touching your face.
So now think about all the ways you touch your face during the day. You scratch your nose, you rub your face, you pick your teeth. You eat. You stroke your moustache, put on makeup, adjust your hair, blow your nose. Getting the picture?
What is amazing is that we are not all sick all the time. Thankfully, our bodies have a marvelously efficient militia called the immune system. Given time, rest and TLC we can conquer most viruses without any help from our doctor. It’s a lucky thing, too, because modern science has not so far succeeded well in developing drugs to kill viruses.
Chicken Little and Mama Media are not entirely wrong. The viruses are coming. Many are already here, and have been here as long as we have. Stay calm, stay clean, and keep your hands off your face, and you will likely escape Foxy Loxy’s den and stay healthy as well. The end.
Dr. Peggy Spencer is a physician at Student Health and Counseling and UNM Center for Life. She is also co-author of the book “50 Ways to Leave Your 40s.” Email your questions directly to her at pspencer@unm.edu. All questions will be considered, and all questioners will remain anonymous.
