Fungi Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Hand Wash: Preventive Measure For Covid-19

InnoHEALTH magazine digital team — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:15:00 +0000

The human body skin or other body cavities can provide a wide entry platform for disease-causing germs like bacteria, fungi, viruses and many more which further replicate, causing serious infection.

In recent times, a novel type of viral infection has emerged in Wuhan City of China, with new genome sequence CoVs, which is called as novel CoV strain (2019-nCoV) or severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

It is imperative to vigilance the readers about COVID-19 virus which is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets which produces through coughing / sneezing of an infected person or touching contaminated surfaces where viruses can survive for several days. Simple personal hygiene procedures can protect humans from COVID 19 infections. Promoting clean hand hygiene by use of soap or alcohol containing sanitizer are the most basic, cheapest and powerful tools to reduce risk of spread of such SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) a global pandemic. Here we cover the numerous personal hygiene practices, spreading pathway of COVID19 infection, classification of COVID 19 virus, details regarding hand wash techniques. We here summarize structural details of CoronaVirus like envelope composition, genetic composition and numerous classification aspects of the virus. Also basics of mechanism of soap for destruction of virus and importance / effectiveness of soap against COVID 19 virus. We address these important points regarding hand-wash techniques and necessary care for hand-wash. Parameters regarding selection of effective sanitizer.

The human body skin or other body cavities can provide a wide entry platform for disease-causing germs like bacteria, fungi, viruses and many more which further replicate, causing serious infection. In the past decades, numerous new diseases have emerged in different geographical regions, like Zika, Ebola, Nipah, and corona viruses (CoVs). Since December 2019, a novel type of viral infection has emerged in Hunan seafood market ,Wuhan City of China, with new genome sequence CoVs, which called as novel CoV strain (2019-nCoV)or severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus outbreak has been affirmed a public health emergency of International concern by World Health Organization (WHO) as officially a pandemic situation. Since knowledge about COVID-19 virus is hastily evolving, readers are urged to modernize themselves recurrently for recent development and preventive measures.

Maintaining excellent hygiene is the foremost step to living a healthy life. These infections can be avoided by various good hygienic practices which are denoted in below Figure 1.

Here we discuss healthy hygienic practices and their implementation parametes along with various effective hand washing techniques. It also focuses on various aspects like details regarding structure of COVID-19 virus, classification of COVID-19 virus, spreading phenomenon, preventive measure.

Figure 1: Healthy practices for personal hygiene

One significant mode to reduce the risk of infections is good hand hygiene. Clean hands can stop the spread of germs from one person to another. Washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the Corona Virus and which acts as an effective shield against COVID-19 infection.

Numerous spreading phenomenons for CoronaVirus (COVID-19)

COVID-19 is assumed to be initiated from an animal host (Zoonotic origin) such as bats followed by human-to-human transmission.
Coronavirus is a respiratory illness; which mostly spreads through virus-laden droplets from coughs and sneezes.
Respiratory viruses like coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread when mucus /droplets containing the virus are exposed to eyes, nose or throat and cause infection.
COVID-19 virus consists of an envelope which is made up of lipid bilayer, which is shaped like a tadpole consisting of polar or hydrophilic head and nonpolar tail/ hydrophobic tail. It describes the structure of two layers piled to form a micelle-like structure as shown in Figure 2 as the hydrophilic head/ polar head part of the virus is very sticky which may be a vital reason for spread of infection from contaminated areas.
COVID-19 is spread through direct close contact with a person who is infected
Virus can spread between people close contact with each other (about 6 feet)
Virus can adhere on smooth surfaces such as tables, phones
Sars-CoV retain viable for five days at 22-25 degree centigrade and relative humidity at 40-50 %
This virus specifically attacks specific body parts like lungs, liver and small intestines because of Furin enzyme present Host. The sugars on the spike act as camouflage
RNA recombination in corona viruses is typically responsible for the evolution and emergence of novel coronaviruses and frequency of recombination is higher in the S gene which codes for viral spike (S) glycoprotein.

Washing hands with soap why protect against CoronaVirus (COVID-19)

Washing hands with warm water and soap can prevent the spread of infectious diseases due to destruction of viruses.
COVID-19, are encased in a lipid envelope — basically, a layer of fat.
Soap/ detergent molecules also have similar tadpole structure as virus (explained in Numerous spreading phenomenons for CoronaVirus) ; therefore lipid bilayer molecules attracted towards soap molecules which are responsible for breaking of virus shell/ envelope which are made up of bilayer.
Soap can break that fat apart and make the virus unable to infect you as shown in below Figure 2.

Figure 2: How soap destroy Corona Virus particles

Corona viruses are Spherical or pleomorphic enveloped, non-segmented ,single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses that possess large viral RNA genomes, capsid and envelope with club-shaped glycoprotein projections

Classification of Corona viruses / Toro viruses as follows:

Figure 3: Numerous classification for CoronaVirus

Figure 4: Structure of CoronaVirus

Clean hands can stop the spread of germs from one person to another. Washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the Corona Virus and which acts as an effective shield against COVID-19 infection.

Hand washing with soap is the only effective way to reduce the spread of COVID 19 virus, which is also able to destroy the virus particle (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Details of hand washing techniques

Important points related to hand wash technique:

Using clean, running water is important.
After washing your hands with soap, use a new tissue to hold the faucet and turn off the water tap.
Do not use common towels or do not touch door handles in the bathroom, toilet flush handles as they can re-contaminate your hands.
Frequent washing of hands reduce the risk of infection
Use of hand sanitizer/hand-rub (60% ethanol or 70% iso-propanol)

COVID-19 virus chiefly spreads through the respiratory droplet and contact transmission through contaminated surfaces by infected person. Thus, hands can spread virus to other surfaces like mouth, nose or eyes by touching. Hand Hygiene is one of the most effective practices that help to diminish the spread of virus and prevent COVID-19 virus infections.

Composed by: “Priyatama V. Powar and Devendra D. Shirode are professors from Dr. D. Y. Patil College of Pharmacy, Pune.”

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Indoor lifestyle impacts the diversity of bugs

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 08:26:01 +0000

A survey of urban households reveals how room layout and indoor lifestyle impacts the diversity of our tiniest roommates.

Humans have lived under the same roof with bugs since we first began building shelters 20,000 years ago. Now, scientists are studying how physical factors of our homes— from the floor plan and the number of windows to even how tidy we are—may play a role in the diversity of the multi-legged communities populating the indoor environment.

Researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, North Carolina State University, and the Natural History Museum of Denmark published findings recently in Scientific Reports revealing that a greater number of bug species can be found in high-traffic, ground level, carpeted rooms with many windows and doors. (And a word of comfort for pet owners with messy habits: don’t worry, bugs don’t really care.)

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“We are just beginning to realize— and study—how the home we create for ourselves also builds a complex, indoor habitat for bugs and other life,” says Dr. Misha Leong, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Academy. “We’re hoping to better understand this age-old coexistence, and how it may impact our physical and mental well-being.”

Humans spend most of their time indoors. Aside from pests, most life within the home—be it bacteria, fungi, or arthropods (a group that includes insects and their close relatives like spiders and millipedes)—has rarely been studied. The scientific team surveyed 50 urban homes in Raleigh, North Carolina to see what it is about a home that might lead to a buggier abode.

FROM THE ATTIC TO THE BASEMENT

Next time you climb the stairs, remember that insects, too, prefer lower levels. Survey findings revealed that as floor numbers increase, fewer types of insects thrive. Larger rooms, especially on the ground floor (or even below ground), harbored more insect diversity. More varied types of insects were also observed in carpeted rooms versus those with bare floors as well as “airier” rooms with more windows and doors offering greater accessibility to the outdoors. Species diversity within the home tends to mirror the life thriving outside, with neighborhood affluence playing an important and recently studied role.

“While the idea of uninvited insect roommates sounds unappealing, bugs in houses may contribute to health in a roundabout way,” says Dr. Michelle Trautwein, senior author and the Academy’s Schlinger Chair of Diptera. “A growing body of evidence suggests some modern ailments are connected with our lack of exposure to wider biological diversity, particularly microorganisms— and insects may play a role in hosting and spreading that microbial diversity indoors.”

ROOM TO ROOM

Bugs can also vary from room to room. An analysis of core representative species—like book lice, fruit flies, and ladybugs—revealed how common areas like living rooms hosted more diverse communities when compared to bathrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. Basements also proved unique: these dark, damp, and cavernous spaces lent to diverse communities of caved welling insects like spiders, mites, millipedes, camel crickets, and ground beetles.

Every room within the home revealed a complex ecological structure of predator and prey— with scavenger species, strays from the outdoors, and transient go-among all playing critical roles. The study also noted how indoor ecology is much like island ecology—a scientific discipline that examines what lives where, and why. Once species permeate inside, they tend to colonize their new “island” habitat and disperse across the household.

“We’re beginning to see how houses can be a passive go-between for insects traveling through the surrounding landscape,” says Trautwein. “The more numerous the entry points of windows and doors, the more diverse the community that thrives inside.”

No need to de-clutter; cats and pups are a-ok For the messy among us, rest assured: study findings revealed that tidiness does not play a significant role in insect diversity except for the presence of cellar spiders—delicate, long legged critters of the family Pholcidae typically spotted in damp crawl spaces. While more cluttered areas hosted a greater number of these web-spinners, overall human behavior played a minimal role in determining the composition of bug communities in the survey.

The presence of cats or dogs, houseplants, pesticides, and dust bunnies revealed no significant impact, suggesting that our indoor communities are more strongly influenced by the environment outside the window than how tidily we live inside with Fido and Kitty.

“Even though we like to think of our homes as shielded from the outdoors, wild ecological dramas may be unfolding right beside us as we go about our daily lives,” says Leong. “We’re learning more and more about these sometimes invisible relationships and how the homes we choose for ourselves also foster indoor ecosystems all their own.”

This study is part of a seven-continent exploration to understand overlooked life in the home: how our tiniest roommates arrive and thrive, and the unknown impacts—both harmful and benign—that stem from living together in close quarters.

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