What is a virus?

A virus is a small piece of genetic material covered with a thin layer of proteins. Bacteria and viruses are often confused with each other. An important difference is that viruses are not alive, while bacteria are. Because viruses do not live, they need host cells to survive.

Virus cells survive by infiltrating healthy cells and taking over function. The human body goes to work as soon as the immune system detects the cells that have infiltrated. Your immune system goes out of its way to protect the body from the virus by making antibodies. These antibodies then attack the virus cells and do everything they can to get the virus out of the body.

Virus infection

Not only the flu and colds involve a virus. Viruses are also becoming more common in foodborne infections because they can be better detected. The biggest danger with viruses is that they are highly contagious. You can become infected with a virus through:

• Coughing, sneezing, vomit, feces and direct contact with hands
• Places where many people are gathered – Hospitals, schools, hotels, shopping centers

Is a virus dangerous?

The most well-known flu is the winter flu, which comes up every year. Because viruses move to other people and animals, it can mutate and change. This is exactly why the “winter flu” returns. The antibodies made by the body are not completely equal to the mutated variant. This can be dangerous when types of viruses mutate together as happened with Covid-19. In most cases, the “winter flu” is only dangerous for people with poor immune systems. But when a virus is mutated like Covid-19, it can also be dangerous for people with good immune systems.