The Reality of Living Face to Face with Coronavirus 

The day the United States went into lockdown in March, Americans were filled with fear and uncertainty. Grocery stores were flooded with panicked people. Shelves were empty. Every news station was telling the same story: the U.S would now enter a lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The world was now undergoing a pandemic. Masks and social distancing were and continue to be the best way to aid in preventing the spread of the virus. As time has progressed, the initial hysteria that followed during the first few months of the pandemic has seemingly subsided. Restaurants, malls, and schools have reopened; more and more people are becoming comfortable with going out. It’s almost as if life has begun to return to normal, and besides the fact that just about everyone is wearing a mask when they leave their house, the virus feels almost nonexistent. But is the threat of the virus really as far gone as it feels? Through the eyes of an average American, perhaps yes, it may feel this way. But through the eyes of Dr. Myriam Sterlin, the virus is completely different. 

Sterlin has been a doctor for over 30 years at the Heart Center of the Oranges in South Orange New Jersey. She has studied internal medicine and specializes in infectious disease.

“When you do your training, you do three years as an intern for internal medicine, and then you have to choose from there,” says Sterlin. “At first, I wanted to continue with it [internal medicine] but then I had my brother who died of AIDS--that’s one of the reasons I went to do research in disease.” 

Although Sterlin has spent much of her career learning about and studying infectious diseases, she, along with many other professionals, was nowhere near prepared for the impact of coronavirus. Naturally, as a doctor, Sterlin has been in the frontlines of the effects of the virus. 

“My life has been super affected, definitely. Very very busy...We are working with an enemy we do not yet know how to beat.” she says. 

In addition to busier hours, Sterlin, along with many doctors across the country, have struggled with a lack of supplies and space. Many hospitals have had to move to “field hospitals” that are outdoors  because hospitals are being flooded with COVID-19 patients, particularly in the Midwest.  A shortage of PPE, or personal protective equipment, proved to be particularly devastating in the early stages of the pandemic.

“I lost a lot of good friends who were physicians. And although we had this equipment afterward, people were still dying. I lost friends, lots of nurses..” she pauses for a moment before continuing.

The current procedure for dealing with a COVID-19 patient varies due to the instability of the virus, according to Sterlin. At the bare minimum, any patient who exhibits any of the symptoms is brought to a “Covid wing” in order to keep them separated from other patients who are seeking treatment. 

“Covid can present itself as a multitude of symptoms--cough, fever, body aches, sore throat, loss of smell or taste, diarrhea.” She explains. However, it is also possible that a patient may not exhibit all of the symptoms or any of the symptoms at all. “Everybody in one house can be affected and someone may be sicker than somebody else, or the whole house may be hospitalized.”

The virus itself is an infection that affects the inflammatory reaction inside of the body. In other words, the body reacts to the virus by sending cells to fight it off, but for some reason, the high amounts of inflammatory cells negatively affect vital organs such as the kidneys, heart and lungs, which would explain why people who have contracted the virus complain about finding it difficult to breathe. 

“Under an x-ray, when you have a normal lung, it looks black,” Sterlin explains. “If it looks white, that means there is inflammation.” Such complications are responsible for the deaths of victims of the virus. 

Even while some treatments, such as Remdesevir, have worked wonders for some patients the way the virus reacts in people’s bodies differently continues to be a source of frustration. The harsh truth that Sterlin and other doctors understand is that there are rarely treatments to cure a virus. She points to the example of HIV, where there are treatments developed to keep a person alive, but not necessarily to cure them. Some people may recover, and some may not, no matter what treatments are available. And, contrary to popular belief, Sterlin notes that “From young child to the elderly- anybody may be at risk.” 

 Even if someone is healed from the virus, they may still face complications as a result. 

“This is the most precarious complication to me--the virus causes multiple blood clots in the brain that causes strokes, and in the lungs as well. This is the worst complication. You will see people who are discharged, and then weeks after they have a stroke. Or, people are discharged from the hospital, but they are hooked onto an oxygen tank. They can’t breathe without it.”

Furthermore, although it is true that there are less admissions, Sterlin is adamant that the threat of the virus is still very real. 

“This is not a second wave, like people are saying. We never plateaued, and we are at a peak right now.” 

She strongly encourages people to continue to practice social distancing, proper hygiene, and mask-wearing. In addition, while many are looking forward to the holidays, a time to be with friends and loved ones, Sterlin warns against the dangers of large gatherings. 

“Avoid those gatherings--Christmas, Thanksgiving--because we are going to see a lot of deaths” she predicts. She also swears by taking vitamin C and vitamin D supplements to keep the immune system strong and healthy. 

In terms of a vaccine, Sterlin is cautious. 

“These two companies are at phase 2, so we do not know number one, ‘how effective is the vaccine?’, because what they are trying to do is build...antibodies that will last.”

She continued by explaining that although antibodies are built after someone contracts the virus, the problem is that over time, these antibodies disappear and a person is once more susceptible to getting the virus. Hence it is important that this vaccine is able to build antibodies that will remain for an entire lifetime. 

Overall, for Sterlin, the times are just as uncertain as they were when the virus first started making headlines across the country. Her life has become monumentally affected as a doctor, with long shifts and many frustrations along the way. Dealing with the virus on a daily basis is not only draining, but it is dangerous as well. Thus, it is imperative that the American people heed the advice of medical professionals like Sterlin so that together they can conquer the virus and protect one another.