In Making Sense of The Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, Dr. Richard Henry offers a timely and in-depth overview of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. His work illuminates the current pandemic by integrating both historical and scientific perspectives on the recent and related SARS epidemic, guiding us to an understanding of the effects of Covid-19 on our physiology.
Relying on peer-reviewed scientific knowledge, Dr. Henry lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the biochemical mechanisms that make Covid-19 such an urgent threat. His explanation of the viral lifecycle offers a deep understanding of how this virus works, how it uses our lung cells to replicate its own DNA, and why this virus is so well-suited to silently infecting humans.
In this compelling and well-researched account, Dr Henry incorporates a detailed and accessible discussion of both the similarities and important differences between SARS and Covid-19. He explains why this virus is spreading around the globe with such speed and identifies a peculiar characteristic of Covid-19: its ability to delay the normal human inflammatory response until the virus is well on its way to spreading.
The thrust of his scientific narrative is to underscore and explain an emerging reality regarding the Covid-2019 virus: that some of us may hardly notice the infection while others will become sick and die. In this book, we discover that the emerging threat of this novel virus hinges on its ability to exploit changes to our phenotype—a consequence of our modern human lifestyle.
This account by Dr. Henry provides a much-needed synthesis of scientific knowledge aimed at offering the general reader a deeper understanding of the threat that is all around us. In addition, it is the scientific background to a forthcoming volume that will outline prevention, treatment and therapy.
Daftar Isi
PROLOGUE
Exhortation: One Virus to Another
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
The Collective Human Experience
Knowledge and Action
Why do We Keep Having Outbreaks?
Limiting Spread of Outbreaks
FUNDAMENTAL CELL BIOLOGY
The Basics of Genetics
The Basics of Epigenetics
Gene Transcription
The Evolution of Complex Life
Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS)
How Ace2 Down-Regulates RAS Stress
THE ENEMY
That is a Virus?
The Life Cycle of a Virus
Viral Spread
Measuring The Spread
Entry into Host Cells
Replication
HOST RESPONSE
Innate Cell Defense
Fever
Immune System Response
ABO Blood Group Antibodies
Vaccines
Serum
CORONAVIRUS
Overview
SARS-Co V (Co V1) and the SARS Epidemic of 2003
Clinical Features of SARS
Treatments used for SARS
MERS
SARS-Co V-2 (Co V2)
Spread
Cell Entry
Lung Proteases – Ace2 and TMPRSS2
Lung Ace2
COVID-19 THE DISEASE
How it Started in Wuhan
Spread
The Clinical Picture of Covid-19
A LOOK AHEAD
A Looming Health Care Crisis
Reflections on this Evolving Pandemic
Epilogue
REFERENCES