Tag: respiratory infections

We can describe it as a virus that infects your body by entering healthy cells. There, the invader makes copies of itself and multiplies throughout your body. Some viruses latch its spiky surface proteins to receptors on healthy cells, especially those in your lungs.

Specifically, the viral proteins bust into cells through ACE2 receptors. Once inside, the coronavirus hijacks healthy cells and takes command. Eventually, it kills some of the healthy cells.

With COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus starts with droplets from an infected person’s cough, sneeze, or breath. They could be in the air or on a surface that you touch before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. That gives the virus a passage to the mucous membranes in your throat. This is what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. It can affect your upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). Within 14 days, your immune system may respond with early symptoms like a sore throat, a fever, or a dry cough.