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Why are New Viruses So Much Worse?
So, some of us are panicking about COVID-19, some of us are trying to downplay it. All of us, I think, are a little bit concerned.
But one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t understand why this virus is so bad. It’s related to several cold viruses, after all. Why is it killing people? Why are we so afraid of it?
Setting aside the fact that new things are inherently scarier, there’s a reason why new or emerging viruses are a problem.
Actually, there are two reasons:
Our Immune Systems Haven’t Met it Yet
We’re in a constant arms race with pathogens. Viruses want to hijack our cellular machinery to reproduce themselves. We don’t want that happening. (Note, if I seem to be anthropomorphizing viruses, it’s a language thing).
Our primary line of defense against viruses is our immune system, specifically our T cells. These wander around in our blood and other bodily fluid looking for invaders. Think of them as our body’s mall security guards on patrol. When they see a known shoplifter, they kill it…or rather, they kill the cell the virus has infected.
(Allergies happen when our immune system mistakes something harmless for an invader, and auto-immune diseases happen when it mistakes healthy cells for…