Virus

ALL ABOUT VIRUSES

Viruses are found on just about every eco system on earth.  They are a biological entity, some people even consider them a life form, so they would be compared to a human or even a dog.  If they were then surely we should be able to see them and say hello?  Actually they are masters of disguise and they are about a one one hundredth the size of a bacterium, that's pretty invisible except under a microscope. They can enter a body and be there without you knowing for days or even weeks before you start to feel sick and know that you have them.  That's often when another person can catch the virus from you, when its' at it's most secretive.

They survive by reproducing copies of themselves, so imagine I'm a virus in an office just pressing the copy button on a photocopy machine, making more and more and more of me! What I do is I use the power you provide me and the paper to keep making more of myself. If I didn't have power, such as in a dead cell, I would not be able to make more of myself because there would be no power, or food or energy to make more of me.

There are millions of types of virus and virus can even infect a bacteria.  The important thing is that a virus needs a living host to survive so basically viruses can be found wherever there is any form of life.

And now the most important part. If you catch any kind of virus, when the virus enters your body, it is the immune system that thinks of it as an intruder and starts to attack it. Without a healthy immune system, a virus can be very dangerous and even kill a person.  That's why when you get a cold, you sometimes get a fever. The fever is the body's response to attacking the virus and creating a condition in your body the virus doesn't like, such as too much heat! Eventually if you are strong and healthy, eating lots of healthy food, getting exercise and plenty of rest, your body's cells can neutralise the virus and stop it from doing any harm – it may however make you feel pretty yucky until your clever immune policemen put the virus in jail!

There are some viruses that are killed or kept under control – locked up in jail by taking medicines and of course vaccinations are also used to help your body to be ready and prepare for attack from viruses that are well known, such as polio.  

Cool words

When a virus travels from person to person across a country or a big area, its called an Epidemic, when it travels across continents and around the world, its called a Pandemic. 

There are lots of germs that can create trouble - MEET THEM HERE