Rhinovirus - The Common Cold :: Essays Papers

Rhinovirus - The Common ColdIntroduction Rhinovirus, pictured above, is best know as the common cold. It is a member of the picornaviridae family along with more(prenominal) mordant viruses such as polio and hepatitis A. The viruses of this family argon characterized as small (20-30nm genome) dictatorial polarity RNA viruses consisting of one genome segment and a nonenveloped capsid. Unlike the its more lethal relatives, Rhinovirus is designed to attack a host numerous multiplication during their lifetime. It is the perfect pathogen. It is estimated that adults suffer from 2 to 4 infections with the virus severally year. The statistics infra show the toll that the virus has on the United States Population. in that respect are nearly 62 million cases of the common cold every year in the US . 52.2 million of these cases affect Ameri flocks under age 17 . in that location are nearly 22 million school- pass days annually due to the common cold . There are approximately 45 mi llion bed days annually associated with the common cold . 75 percent of common colds suffered by children under 5 years are medically attended Source Vital and Health Statistics Series 10, no 200 The economic impact of the cold is estimated at 5 trillion dollars, but is far greater in indirect costs when considering loss of productivity and school abscence. Encounter It is virtually impossible to avoid Rhinovirus visualize 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 often enters the upper respitory tract via aerosolized droplets coming from an infectious individuals cough up or sneezing. It is also possible to spread the pathogen through saliva. However, studies have turn up that contact transmission is the dominant mode of contraction. 9 This is possible because infected individuals can shed the virus 24 hours before symptoms and as long as 2 week s after symptoms cease. Contrary to popular belief, there is no effectual clinical evidence that exposure to cold or moisture impart result in infection.Entry Primary infection occurs in the pinched mucosa and occasionally the conjunctiva. Once exposed to the epithelial cells, the virus attempts to stay to intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM1). ICAM-1 is regularly used by the immune brass to bind endothelial cells to leukocytes. However, as the picture above shows, Rhinovirus is able to take back advantage of this property and recognizes it with its own receptors.