An epidemic is an event in which a disease is actively spreading. By contrast, the term pandemic relates to geographic spread and is used to describe a disease that affects a whole country or the entire world.
Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics, such as cholera, plague, smallpox and tuberculosis. One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75–200 million people in the 14th century.
The 2019–20 corona virus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The virus first emerged in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019. On March 11, the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a pandemic. As of March 11, over 1,26,000 cases have been confirmed in more than 110 countries and territories, with major outbreaks in mainland China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran. More than 4,600 have died from the disease and 67,000 have recovered.
In Hindu religion, Bhasmasura was an asura or demon who was granted the power by Lord Shiva to burn up and immediately turn into ashes (bhasma) anyone whose head he touched with his hand. Bhasmasura then tried to experiment it with Lord Shiva and then wreaked havoc across the world. It might be possible that COVID-19 is manmade virus developed in Wuhan research laboratory which has now turned into Bhasmasura. Lord Vishnu, in the form of Mohini finally killed him.
Viruses are very tiny germs. They are made of genetic material inside of a protein coating. Viruses cause familiar infectious diseases such as the common cold, flu and warts. They also cause severe illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, smallpox, and Ebola. The ancient virus is one of the most devastating diseases known to mankind. The extremely contagious disease small pox is caused by the variola virus. Humans have battled the virus for thousands of years. In the 20th century alone, smallpox killed 300 million people worldwide. WHO declared the virus had been eradicated in 1980.
Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. This can kill, damage, or change the cells and make you sick. Different viruses attack certain cells in our body such as our liver, respiratory system, or blood. When we get a virus, we may not always get sick from it. Our immune system may be able to fight it off. For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while we wait for our immune system to fight off the virus. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Vaccines can help prevent us from getting many viral diseases.
Viruses can be transmitted in a variety of ways. Some viruses can spread through touch, saliva, or even the air. Other viruses can be transmitted through sexual contact or by sharing contaminated needles. Insects including ticks and mosquitoes can act as "vectors," transmitting a virus from one host to another. Contaminated food and water are other potential sources of viral infection.
Thus it is advised to Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly — and often. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer only if soap and water are not available. Also we should not touch our face, especially our eyes, nose and mouth. People should not be panic rather should maintain a neat and clean environment. Lord Vishnu will save us from the grip of COVID-19.
(Dr Senapati is Dean, Science, BPUT, Professor and Head, Dept of Chemistry, Trident Academy of Technology, Bhubaneswar)