It has been over a year since we became aware of the Covid virus in this country. So far hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from it and thousands more continue to die each day. Every American death diminishes each one of us. We are all connected in this web of life. Thankfully we now have vaccines that can protect most of us from the potential ravages of this terrible virus. These vaccines were tested on a total of about 70,000 people and their efficacy has been proven.
There is hope for the future.
I know there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the new vaccines. As a scientist and a physician I would like to present to you, my friends, the latest information about the Covid 19 virus as well as some of the major therapeutic options we now have. I want to start by defining a few terms in order to clarify our understanding of the issues involved with the vaccine.
Stay with me. I’m going to simplify the relevant science for your understanding.
CELL
A cell is the most basic unit of life. It is a “building block” of life. There are over 30 trillion cells in the human body. There are many different types of cells in our bodies. Most cells have two parts; an inner part(inner chamber) called the Nucleus and an outer part(outer chamber) called the Cytoplasm. (See picture)
Think of it as a large balloon with a smaller balloon inside the larger balloon. The smaller balloon is the Nucleus and the space outside the smaller balloon is the Cytoplasm. Another example is a one-bedroom house. The house is a cell. When you open the door and walk into the house you are standing in the outer chamber/living room called Cytoplasm. If you continue to walk ahead, you open a door that leads you to another chamber/bedroom called Nucleus.
Got it now? Easy isn’t it?
The Nucleus (the inner chamber/bedroom ) is the ‘mission control’ center of the cell. Our precious genetic material called DNA resides in the nucleus (in the bedroom). You hide all your precious stuff in the bedroom, right? All instructions from what color your eyes should be, to how much estrogen should be produced in your body, comes from the DNA in the nucleus.
The Cytoplasm(the outer chamber/living room) is the “manufacturing, assembly and packaging” part of the cell.
So, my people! How does the factory (in the living room/cytoplasm) know what kind of hormone or protein to manufacture for Vivian or John or Veruschka?
Answer: The instructions are sent by the DNA (in the bedroom/inner chamber/nucleus!!!).
How do those instructions get from the DNA in the nucleus(inner chamber) to the Cytoplasm (outer chamber) where manufacturing takes place?
Answer: The instructions are carried by a messenger called RNA. (Messenger RNA or simply mRNA!)-the delivery truck!
In summary, if the body wants to manufacture something, whether it is a hormone or a protein that your body needs or an antibody, whatever it is, the instructions for making that item come from the DNA in the nucleus(the inner chamber) and these instructions are carried/transported/transferred by a messenger called RNA(mRNA) to the outer chamber which we call Cytoplasm where the manufacturing facility is located. After the item is manufactured it is then packaged and then a ‘door’ opens and releases the final product outside the cell. Therefore mRNA’s job is mostly to deliver instructions about how to make things!
FUN n EASY STUFF! Hang in there with me.....
What is a VIRUS?
It is an independent particle which comes in various shapes. Inside that particle is the genetic material of the virus which is either RNA or DNA. A virus will not survive without your help. It cannot reproduce itself! It needs to enter your cell, hijack your cell, take over its manufacturing plant and then instruct your cell to produce more viruses.
After your cell has produced many copies of the virus, it releases these new viruses outside so that they can infect other cells to produce more copies of the virus. The virus has an envelope/covering which is made up of either protein or fat material or combination of these. This envelope surrounds and protects the important genetic material(DNA or RNA) of the virus. Often times you can tell what kind of virus it is by its covering.
How can you tell the car you’re looking at is a Cadillac GTS?
By its shape and its Cadillac emblem!
Therefore just like the Cadillac sedan, the coronavirus has its own ‘emblem’ on its surface/coating/envelope which distinguishes it from other viruses. It can use that same ‘emblem’ to attach itself to a cell in your windpipe. And then that cell in your windpipe opens its door and allows the virus to enter. Once it enters your cell, as I explained above, it instructs your cell to begin manufacturing many more copies of itself. This is how the virus works.
REMEMBER... bacteria on the other hand does not need you or your cell. It can multiply on its own. The virus cannot do this so it needs you to produce copies of itself!
So if I have you in a toll booth on the highway and I instruct you to stop every Mercedes Benz car that is trying to pass through, how would you do that?. Obviously you will look at the Mercedes emblem which is specific to Mercedes. Every car that comes by that has that emblem on it, you will stop it from passing through the gate.
The same is true for coronavirus. When your body sees a virus that has an ‘emblem’ of a coronavirus on its surface it produces antibodies to target that specific emblem therefore arresting the virus.
The new vaccine by Pfizer and Moderna is an RNA vaccine. Specifically it is a messenger RNA vaccine(mRNA). We know that the job of messenger RNA is to carry instructions from the DNA in the nucleus out to the manufacturing facilities within the cytoplasm. The messenger RNA in this vaccine has instructions (already coded in it) about how to make an ‘emblem’ of the coronavirus.
Exciting stuff!!! And easy too!
The messenger RNA vaccine when injected in your muscle enters one of your muscle cells and stays in the outer chamber of that cell where the manufacturing facility is located. There it delivers the instructions already programmed in it about how to make a coronavirus ‘emblem’. Please note that the messenger RNA in the vaccine DOES NOT go into the nucleus (the inner chamber where your DNA is located!). (No need to! It already has the instructions in it!)
Therefore it cannot influence your genetic information!
This is extremely important for you to understand because so many of the vibrant conspiracy theories out there are talking about messenger RNA doing things to your genetic mechanism (your DNA) when it is injected in your muscle as a vaccine.
This is absolutely wrong! Now you see why!
When your muscle cell factory produces the coronavirus ‘emblem’, (based on instructions it received from mRNA vaccine) it spits it (the ‘emblem’) outside where it can be seen by your immune system. The cells of your immune system immediately grab it and process the ‘emblem’. Then these immune system cells send instructions to your lymph nodes to produce specific antibodies to completely destroy the ‘emblem’.
Now that the body has recognized the ‘emblem’, the next time a real coronavirus(with its known ‘emblem’ on its surface) enters your body, these antibodies which are now primed and ready will recognize that ‘emblem’ on the surface of the virus and annihilate/destroy the virus immediately.
This my people, is how the vaccine works!
WHAT WE KNOW.
- Over 50% of Covid transmissions may occur via asymptomatic people!!!
- About 70,000 people were enrolled in clinical trials for this vaccine and received two vaccine doses each. It is a safe vaccine. Major complications from any vaccine (measles, HPV, mumps, yellow fever, polio, etc) are usually appreciated within 2 months of receiving it. It’s been 2 months since the trial ended.
- The vaccine is about 95% effective.
- If you have had Covid, you should still take the vaccine. We do not know how long you are protected after a Covid infection.
- Monoclonal antibodies for emergency use authorized by the USFDA are available for those who test positive for Covid and are at risk for severe disease! This treatment can keep at risk people out of the hospital. Therefore if you test positive and are at risk for severe disease you must ask your doctor why you are not being given one of the FDA authorized antibody therapies. As of January 6, 2021, over 400,000 doses have been delivered to inpatient and outpatient facilities in the US.
- Pregnant women who have a Covid infection may not pass the virus to their newborn.
- The coronavirus has mutated! There is a new strain here! Another is on its way from South Africa. This new mutant strain is 50% more contagious!
- Every indication tells us that the vaccine will also work on this new strain.
- The best test for coronavirus is the Rapid Polymerase Chain(PCR) test which is about 97% sensitive.
- The Saliva Spit Test (which involves coughing and clearing the throat before spitting) stacks up well against the gold standard for COVID-19 test which uses a deep swab in the back of the nose.
- Home test kits are not as sensitive at this time. They work best within 5 to 7 days of contracting the virus, when the viral load is still high.
- In an effort to vaccinate more people using the currently available amounts of vaccine, some European nations have suggested delaying the second vaccine dose so more people can be vaccinated. This issue is being debated vigorously over there and here in the USA. There is concern that a long interval between doses would lead to resistant strains of the virus. Also the information we have about the effectiveness of this vaccine is from studies where people received two doses of it, NOT one!
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Facial covering.
2. Hand washing.
3. Social distancing.
4. Vaccine.
5. Monoclonal antibodies for Covid positive who are at risk for severe disease.
Best wishes to all and a Happy 2021!
N. A. Zama, MD, PhD.
Dr Nche Zama, MD, PhD is a cardiothoracic surgery specialist in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and has been in practice for 35 years. Twin Tiers Living would like to thank Dr. Zama for giving permission to reprint this guest column.
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