Too Many Names?

nbcconnecticut.com

This happens in many things doesn't it? As a youngster my father always called me Daniel, then I was Dan, Danny, Gruntadas (neighborhood kids misspelled Seagren) and "Joe Wobble" I called myself when chemotherapy introduced me to Peripheral Neuropathy.

The swiftly moving Pandemic of 2020-21 is also known by many names, just like medicines: Covid-19,  coronavirus, coronavirus disease, coronavirus disease 2019, CV- 19,  and earlier SARS-COV-2 from 2002, which according to Meriam-Webster is "the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of COVID-19." (Editor's Note: The image found for use with this article illustrates this well).

OK. At times it is unavoidable that names become confusing: Tthe COVID-19 crisis has developed at such a rapid pace that some of the words and ideas associated with the crises are themselves new. We have made an unscheduled update for words connected with the disease and responses to it. Some of these terms are new to the dictionary, others have revised definitions. Some words are newly prominent in our language, qualifying for entry in record time, while others had previously been scheduled for entry in the near future (Webster's Dictionary).

Now let's get acquainted with some lesser known aspects of COVID-19. On February 25, 2020 it was stated that COVID-19 Is Heading Toward Pandemic and by March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it officially a pandemic. 'CO' stands for 'corona,' 'VI' for 'virus,' and 'D'and 19 for the year it apepared. This variation is not the same as the coronaviruses that commonly circulate among humans and cause mild illness, like the common cold, hence a class of disease, but different labels to distinguish each strain.

It has been said that COVID-19 (as an offshoot of SARS-COV-2) made the jump to humans at one of Wuhan’s open-air “wet markets.” That's where customers buy fresh meat and fish, including animals that are killed on the spot and soon spread quickly worldwide as the virus is transmitted from one human to another. Scientists and scholars worldwide searched for treatments and cures and now we have several vaccines in early stages of distributiont.

Individualism and cooperation are involved as well as economics and politics as this pandemic as we know it is revolutionary (radical and seditious). The restrictions, judicial demands, distancing, social restrictions, masking, isolation, shutdowns, unemployment, hunger, political division, less travel and employment and on and on. It seems endless.

A human coronavirus caused a common cold as early in 1965 as the virus is transmitted from one human to another. Seven corona viruses can infect humans, causing fever, headache, and respiratory problems such as coughing and shortness of breath, as well as kidney failure and death as it also infects weaknesses in human bodily systems.

We have rarely witnessed such a disease spread worldwide so quickly. Finding treatments and cures challenges the most brilliant researchers and arouses both fear and hope. There is plenty of room for misinterpretation, as may be the case in this sketchy column written by a novice in the sphere.

Are there too many coronavirus names or do we need another to understand it even better? I for one need to know more. How about you?

So, don't give up or take too many risks. OK? Sooner or later this virus will be history and our attention will be diverted elsewhere.