Tag Archive for: COVID-19

There’s More to Know About COVID-19

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Someone just sneezed in an enclosed area such as an office or a plane. We know the potential for any virus to be in a droplet, especially if someone is sick. How many individual viruses do you have to inhale to get sick? In theory, just one will do it. After reading more details, it’s likely to take more than that, depending on the virus and with COVID-19, we just don’t know yet.

Are we toast? No, because it gets complicated. It depends on the strength of your immune system, and that includes whether you’ve had a coronavirus from a regular cold that was similar enough to have made antibodies to it. Then the virus has to penetrate cells to replicate; they can’t replicate by themselves. How many cells get infected will, in part, determine whether you get sick or not after exposure. Once the infection begins, your body will produce mucus to try to expel the virus, and thus the potential for infecting others continues, whether you get symptoms or not.

What’s the best thing to do? Keep your immune system strong. Take the supplements you typically use to boost your immune system, and don’t forget the probiotics (check out Immune Boost 1-2-3 on my Health Info page). Get enough sleep. Try to get your stress under control—like that’s easy—but most of us can find at least one stressor to eliminate or postpone, especially now when we have the perfect excuse to cancel. Slow and easy exercise. If you’re starting to feel sick, stay home if you can. If you’re sick and you must leave the house, that’s the time to wear a mask—to protect others. And for goodness sake, wash your hands with soap thoroughly and frequently. That seems to be the universal advice.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

P.S. This is the last week to get 20% off on The Optimal Performance CD Set and Workbook, so check it out now.

How Many Viruses in a Single Droplet?

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All news sources are reporting on the COVID-19 virus. We’ve had the first six deaths in the U.S. and people are concerned. I understand; as someone who travels for a living and meets with groups of people locally and around the country, the thought crosses my mind. Of all the things we can do, the most important is to try to limit the spread of the virus person to person. That’s not going to be easy.

In doing some research for an Insiders Conference Call, I wanted to know how many viruses could be in a single droplet expelled from a cough or a sneeze. With viruses being so small, even in relation to bacteria, I knew it had to be a lot, and it is.

In one droplet expelled by a cough, there may be 3,000 or so droplets. In a sneeze, the droplets could be as many as 40,000 or so. That’s a lot, but that isn’t the whole story. The question was how many viruses could be in a single droplet. For someone is symptomatic and infectious, there could be as many as 200 million viruses in a single droplet. So 40,000 x 200,000,000; you can do the math from there. It’s a lot of viruses if you happen to have droplets lodge in your sinus cavity or in your mouth.

But wait! There’s more—and I’ll tell you that on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet