Najmu Nissa
The onslaught of COVID19 pandemic is running amok across the length and breadth of globe cornering almost every soul. It has taken the whole world by its feet and seems unstoppable. Each day we get to know that a sizeable number has tested positive for the pathogen. The anxiety is palpable as this pandemic has already forced a Lockdown of almost six months in this part of the world (since this Virus made landfall in the sub-continent around the first week of March 2020). The people are even more frustrated for no vaccine or treatment is available to keep oneself off its clutches. The social, religious, educational and business activities have come to a grinding halt with people seemingly left with less or nothing to do. This disaster caught the people off-guard and they, unfortunately, continue to remain so. Novel Coronavirus – as commoners have known it – demands a novel approach if we need to survive its whack. If we continue to lose days as we have been for all these months, we may end up as ultimate benefactors. Precautions and guidelines need to be followed for our own good but then we should also need to explore options to bring oneself out of this rut if at all we want to emerge as victors against this ghost. At a time, when many have already given up by containing themselves to just the ‘Eat, Sleep, Repeat’ principle, yet there are many who are putting up a brave face and believe in ‘Eat, Sleep, CONQUER, Repeat’ and decline to bow down before this pandemic – and this brings life to the Darwin’s ‘Survival of the Fittest’ theory!
Careful management of a vaccine is required. Today, the fittest are those with the right immune system. It is not about being the youngest or the strongest. Let us hope, we find a perfect vaccine soon. Until then, stay healthy, follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and be hopeful. Stay home, stay safe.
The theory broadly explains how the process of natural selection plays a crucial part. Only those species who are able to adapt and respond survive. When it comes to the pandemic of Covid-19, natural selection comes into play. Here, it is the fittest and the most suitable immune system that determines survival. The human immune system should ideally function in two phases: the Immune response phase and the post-response phase. In the first phase of the fight, our immune system triggers a response against any kind of invasion. With respect to Covid 19, the immune response would be to eliminate the primary infection and prevent its spread in the body. After this is achieved successfully, the next phase is started by the immune system. In Covid 19, this phase should be capable of checking the response triggered in the first phase. The check needed here is to prevent excessive inflammation in the lungs in the form of the cytokine storm. So, basically, the perfect immune system is the one that responds to a disease like an accelerator. It should trigger the response as much as needed. Next, it should be able to stop and check the response. It should be capable of applying brakes to the response. This perfect blend of response and stop is what makes an immune system a miracle. Today, the world is looking for a vaccine that could stop Covid 19. The ability of a vaccine to respond and check perfectly is a challenge here. This is the reason why scientists across the globe have not been able to give us a vaccine yet. It is not an easy job. It is like creating a miracle. Careful management of a vaccine is required. Today, the fittest are those with the right immune system. It is not about being the youngest or the strongest. Let us hope, we find a perfect vaccine soon. Until then, stay healthy, follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and be hopeful. Stay home, stay safe.
(The author is pursuing her Doctorate from BGSBU. Views are her personal) [email protected]
