2020 Issues

Statement: Washing your hand with soapy water is an effective way to get rid of any viruses. Soap breaks down the virus's membrane and causes the internal structures to spill out, basically inactivating the virus.

Explanation: Soap is made up of two parts, a head that is attracted to water (hydrophilic) and a tail that is attracted to and made up of lipids (fat). The tails are attracted to the virus because the inside of the membrane also has lipids tails. Wanting to get closer to the lipids in the membrane, the soap's tail starts to "crowbar" its way in. The internal structures that spill out are then surrounded by a bunch of soap bodies creating a box around it. Finally, all of this gets washed away with water, leaving your hand virus free.

Metaphor: Think of a crack in the shell of an egg. If an egg were to crack, the chick inside wouldn't live. Same with a virus, if the soap breaks the membrane the virus will die.

References:

Anne Dunkin, Mary. Cleaning or Disinfecting: What’s the Difference?. WebMD, 2001, https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/cleaning-disinfecting#2. 25 July 2020.

Thordarson, Pall. The Science of Soap - Here’s How it Kills the Coronavirus. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/science-soap-kills-coronavirus-alcohol-based-disinfectants. 25 July 2020.

Jabr, Ferris. Why Soap Works. The New York Times, 13 March 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html. 25 July 2020.

Statement: Contact tracing breaks the chain of infection, which prevents a lot more new cases.

Explanation: The coronavirus spreads from person to person through close contact. So the best way to slow the spreading is to quarantine people suspected of infection (a.k.a., contacts). Contact tracing identifies and quarantines contacts to disrupt the chain of infection. The contacts are quarantined for 14 days to ensure that they are healthy before returning back to the community. This breaks the chain of spreading (Person A to person B to person C). Get ready, here is the math! If 1 person infects 5 people in a week, after 4 weeks, there will be 625 newly infected people and 781 in total. Newly infected = 5 to the power of (number of weeks). It is an exponential growth! By isolating 1 person, it could prevent 780 new cases.

Metaphor: Think of removing weeds before they spread out.

Weeds spread quickly. Once you see the weed, you’ll want to immediately remove it to prevent your garden from being filled with weeds. This is the same concept of contact tracing. Contact tracers identify and quarantine the people suspected of infection to prevent them from spreading the virus.

References:

North Carolina Division of Public Health. https://files.nc.gov/ncdhhs/Contact-Tracing-for-Non-healthcare-Settings-PUI-03-17-20.pdf#:~:text=Contact%20tracing%20is%20the%20systematic,the%20contact%20becomes%20symptomatic. Sept 26, 2020.

What is Contact Tracing? How Does It Stop The Spread of COVID-19? State of New Jersey, August 13, 2020, https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/nj-information/slowing-the-spread/what-is-contact-tracing-how-does-it-stop-the-spread-of-covid-19. Sept 26, 2020.

Contact Tracing. CDC, Sept 17, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/contact-tracing.html. Sept 26, 2020.

Smith, Jesse. The Science Behind Contact Tracing, and the Limitations to US Implementation. Medium, April 7, https://medium.com/swlh/the-science-behind-contact-tracing-and-the-limitations-to-us-implementation-94c5c1a71186. Sept 26, 2020.

Statement: No, antibiotics can’t treat COVID-19 because antibiotics are not built to attack viruses.

Explanation: Viruses and bacteria are two different microorganisms. Viruses have a protein covering and aren’t alive. Bacteria are living cells with a cell wall. There are two different types of antibiotics. One that kills the bacteria’s cell wall (bactericidal) and one that stops the bacteria’s reproduction (bacteriostatic). Bactericidal antibiotics attack the specific chains in the bacteria’s cell wall. These chains are put together by an enzyme (a type of protein). The antibiotic binds to the enzyme and stops the chain from forming. This creates a hole in the bacteria’s cell wall and it quickly dies. Viruses are unaffected because they don't have a cell wall. Bacteriostatic antibiotics attack materials needed for bacteria reproduction. Viruses are immune to this because they aren’t alive and need a host to reproduce, differing from how bacteria reproduce. Because COVID-19 is caused by a virus (coronavirus), no antibiotic will treat it.

Metaphor: Think of a pin being able to burst a balloon, but not a brick. A pin can easily burst a balloon, but does nothing to a brick. This is the same concept with antibiotics. Antibiotics can easily destroy bacteria, but does nothing to a virus.

References:

Why antibiotics can’t be used to treat your cold or flu. Queensland Government, June 10 2019, https://www.health.qld.gov.au/news-events/news/antibiotics-viruses-cold-flu. Oct. 11 2020.

Dworkin Barry. Microbiology 101: Why antibiotics don’t kill viruses. Dr. Barry Dworkin, Jan. 28 2003, http://www.drbarrydworkin.com/articles/medicine/infectious-disease-articles/microbiology-101-why-antibiotics-dont-kill-viruses/. Oct. 11 2020.

Structure of Viruses. Lumen, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-microbiology/chapter/structure-of-viruses/#:~:text=A%20virion%20consists%20of%20a,additional%20proteins%2C%20such%20as%20enzymes. Oct. 11 2020.

How do antibiotics work? Healthline, Dec. 7 2018, https://www.healthline.com/health/how-do-antibiotics-work#how-they-work. Oct. 11 2020.

Chow Susan. Penicillin Mechanism. News Medical Life Sciences, Aug 23 2018, https://www.news-medical.net/health/Penicillin-Mechanism.aspx. Oct. 11 2020.

Porter Sandra. Antibiotics Resistance: How do antibiotics kill bacteria? Digital World Biology, Dec 30 2006, https://digitalworldbiology.com/archive/antibiotic-resistance-how-do-antibiotics-kill-bacteria#:~:text=Many%2C%20if%20not%20most%2C%20antibiotics,cell%20walls%2C%20and%20so%20on. Oct. 11 2020.

Statement: The symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu are similar, but not the same.

Explanations:

COVID-19: Symptoms show about 2 weeks after contact. Blood clots, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, prominent loss/shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, and a severe and persistent cough

Both: Infected people can be asymptomatic. Fever, cough, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea.

Influenza: Symptoms show 1-4 days after contact. Early fatigue, mild and dry cough, prominent headache, and often severe muscle pain/body aches.

References:

COVID-19 vs. flu symptoms: How can you tell the difference?. Health Partners, https://www.healthpartners.com/blog/covid-19-vs-flu-symptoms/. Nov. 24, 2020.

Mayo Clinic Staff. Coronavirus vs. flu: Similarities and differences. Mayo Clinic, Nov. 12 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-vs-flu/art-20490339. Nov. 24, 2020.

Toner, Eric. Do Public Health and Infection Control Measures Work to Prevent the Spread of Flu?. Johns Hopkins, https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/cbn/2005/cbnreport_103105.html#:~:text=As%20many%20as%2050%25%20of,%E2%80%9Creservoir%E2%80%9D%20for%20the%20virus. Nov. 24, 2020.

Maragakis, Lisa. Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu. Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nov. 24 2020, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu. Nov. 24, 2020.

Statement: No, it can not. You’ll be dead before the virus is.

Explanation: Let’s get this straight: the alcohol for drinking (ethanol/ethyl) is different from the rubbing alcohol (isopropyl). Even though they are similar, molecular-wise, rubbing alcohol is not consumable; you will die if you drink it.

As a thought experiment, let’s say that drinking alcohol (ethanol) can deactivate the virus. To effectively deactivate the virus, a person will need to have an 80% concentration of drinking alcohol (ethanol). A known fact is just having a 0.5% concentration of alcohol in your system is fatal. To put it into perspective, for the average adult to reach a 0.5% blood alcohol concentration (BAC), they would need to drink 20 cans of 12 oz beer in under 5 minutes. By this time, the person would be dead due to alcohol poisoning.

It won’t be possible to even come close to the 80% BAC because you’ll be dead long before, hence the alcohol won’t kill the coronavirus before it kills you.

Metaphor: Think about holding your breath. If you hold your breath for too long in a breath-holding competition, you'll die from lack of oxygen before you can win. This is the same concept with consuming alcohol. You'll die of alcohol poisoning far before reaching the concentration of alcohol.

References:

Mekonnen, Serkalem. Rubbing Alcohol Only Looks Like Water. National Capital Poison Control, https://www.poison.org/articles/2012-dec/rubbing-alcohol-only-looks-like-water#:~:text=Isopropyl%20alcohol%20is%20also%20extremely,also%20be%20toxic%20when%20inhaled. Dec. 11, 2020.

Ashurst; John and Nappe, Thomas. Isopropanol Toxicity. NCBI, June 26, 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493181/#:~:text=On%20physical%20examination%2C%20isopropanol%20intoxication,hypothermia%2C%20and%20even%20cardiopulmonary%20collapse. Dec 11, 2020.

Can your alcoholic beverage kill germs in your body. Neogen, May 15, 2018,

https://www.neogen.com/neocenter/blog/can-your-alcoholic-beverage-kill-germs-in-your-body/. Dec. 11, 2020.

Kampf, Guenter. Efficacy of ethanol against viruses in hand disinfection. NIH, Sep. 5 2017, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28882643/#affiliation-1. Dec, 11, 2020.

Mayo Clinic Staff. Alcohol Poisoning. Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcohol-poisoning/symptoms-causes/syc-20354386. Dec.11 2020.

Statement: With modifications to the Halloween traditions, so that it adheres to the guidelines then yes!

Explanation: The CDC advised against doing many of the usual Halloween traditions since they do not adhere to the guidelines to keep us safe. But with some modifications then absolutely! Based on the CDC guidelines on Holiday events, we can keep the activities that require little interaction with people outside of your family. Some examples include: carving pumpkins, movie nights, and decorating the house. What CDC highly advised against would be the traditional trick and treating, costume parties, and indoor haunted houses. But with a little bit of creativity, there are many ways that we can celebrate the Halloween season this year and while also keeping ourselves safe!

References:

Holiday Celebrations. CDC, Sept. 21 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween. Oct. 10th, 2020.

Statement: Your nose is connected to your lungs, so any respiratory droplets that come out of your mouth can come out of your nose.

Explanation: No mask- There is no barrier between the respiratory system and the outside causing the virus to freely spread to others.

Only over the mouth- There is a barrier between the mouth and the outside, but the nose is also a path that the virus can leave the body through and spread to others.

Over nose and mouth- The respiratory system is completely blocked off from the outside. There will be little to no virus leaving the body, thus less chance of spreading.

References:

Xie, Xiaojian. Li, Yuguo. Sun, Hequan. Liu, Li. Exhaled droplets due to talking and coughing. NCBI, Oct. 7th 2009, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843952/#:~:text=During%20human%20expiratory%20activities%20such,after%20evaporation%20(Garner%201996).

Hirsch, Larissa. Lungs and Respiratory system. Kids Health, September 2019, https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/lungs.html#:~:text=The%20respiratory%20system%20includes%20the,the%20nose%20or%20the%20mouth.&text=The%20pharynx%20is%20part%20of,carries%20both%20food%20and%20air.