Rhinovirus - The Common Cold :: Essays Papers

Rhinovirus - The Common ColdIntroduction Rhinovirus, pictured above, is best known as the common cold. It is a member of the picornaviridae family along with more virulent viruses such as polio and hepatitis A. The viruses of this family be characterized as small (20-30nm genome) positive sign of the zodiac RNA viruses consisting of unmatchable genome segment and a nonenveloped capsid. Unlike the its more deadly relatives, Rhinovirus is designed to attack a host numerous times during their lifetime. It is the improve pathogen. It is estimated that adults suffer from 2 to 4 infections with the virus each year. The statistics below specify the toll that the virus has on the United States Population. in that respect ar nearly 62 cardinal cases of the common cold annually in the US . 52.2 million of these cases affect Americans under age 17 . There are nearly 22 million school-loss days annually delinquent to the common cold . There are approximately 45 million bed days ann ually associated with the common cold . Seventy-five percentage of common colds suffered by children under 5 years are medically attended Source Vital and Health Statistics Series 10, No. cc The economic impact of the cold is estimated at 5 billion dollars, exactly is far greater in indirect costs when considering loss of productiveness and school abscence. Encounter It is virtually impossible to avoid Rhinovirus encounter because it is one of the few pathogens that is present in the environment year round. There are over 100 serotypes making it unlikely to have antibodies to each strain. It practically enters the upper respitory tract via aerosolized droplets coming from an infectious individuals coughing or sneezing. It is also possible to spread the pathogen through saliva. However, studies have proven that soupcon transmission is the dominant mode of contraction. 9 This is possible because infected individuals can flip the virus 24 hours before symptoms and as long as 2 weeks after symptoms cease. Contrary to popular belief, there is no valid clinical evidence that exposure to cold or moisture will root in infection.Entry Primary infection occurs in the nasal mucous membrane and occasionally the conjunctiva. Once exposed to the epithelial cells, the virus attempts to dumbfound to intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM1). ICAM-1 is regularly used by the immune system to bind endothelial cells to leukocytes. However, as the picture above shows, Rhinovirus is able to take utility of this property and recognizes it with its own receptors.