“The viruses that scare me are the ones I don’t know about.” Anthony Fauci, long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda and among the leading experts on new and old virusessome time ago underlined how and to what extent there is a balance between invisible pathogens (viruses in the head) and human beings that sometimes breaks down. And when this happens, perhaps due to the adaptation of an animal viral strain to the biology of human beings, all perspectives must be considered.
At the moment, talking about what has been baptized the “Congo disease”, we are still in the knowledge phase. And all hypotheses are valid. Let’s try to understand what it could be, always remaining in the field of scientific speculation and waiting for certainties.
WHO refers to it as a respiratory pathogen
Let’s start with the official data. The World Health Organization, in a note, speaks of “a respiratory pathogensuch as influenza or Covid-19, currently being studied as a possible cause” of the pathology which is causing several deaths, especially among children and young people, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this sense, WHO scholars were sent to the Kwango area, almost 700 kilometers from the capital Kinshasa.
But we are only at the beginning. What is known, and what is important to know, is that we are talking about ainfection that would be transmitted via the respiratory route. This is why the parallel with the flu arises. But it must be said that the classic winter epidemic is not the only possibility, also due to the symptoms that the situation seems to cause. Alongside flu-like ones such as high fever, sore throat, even difficulty breathing, we often talk about anemia. In this case, a significant drop in hemoglobin transported by red blood cells is therefore observed. For this reason, among the different options, we also talk about paintings potentially linked to bacterialike the Mycoplasma pneumoniaeOf atypical pneumonias or even pictures similar to those of fevers.
Why do we talk about Mycoplasma
The Mycoplasma pneumoniae it is a “curious” bacterium. Unlike other strains, in fact, it has a structure that makes it practically devoid of a cell wall. This is also why the infections it causes are frequent difficult to diagnoseso much so that we often talk about primary atypical pneumonias.
Above all, due to its characteristics, this germ sometimes does not limit its action to the respiratory tract, but can cause complications that affect both the nervous system both above all blood cells. In this sense, those who develop the infection may present problems linked to the haemolysis of the red blood cells, with conditions which are precisely defined as hemolytic anemias. What is it about? In practice, the red blood cell “breaks” and therefore the number of cells capable of transporting oxygen through the hemoglobin contained in the erythrocytes progressively decreases. The transmission of Mycoplasma occurs via the respiratory route, with aincubation of 1-3 weeks.
Children and elderly people more at risk
It may happen that this bacterium potentially causes limited epidemics, precisely due to the way it spreads. And the groups most at risk appear to be those of children, especially if very young, and the elderly. For children, in particular, among the causes that can make the infection more serious there are also the immaturity of the immune system and possible deficiencies in the defenses, also linked to malnutrition. So much so that nutritional deficits are called into question, regardless of Mycoplasma, as possible (co)factors of the clinical pictures observed. Without forgetting that even the plasmodia of malariain some way, could contribute to worsening the situation.
Viral pneumonias and more
When we talk about pneumonia, leaving aside for a moment the problem linked to anemia, we must remember that in very young children these conditions are caused above all by viruses, such as Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or precisely the strains that cause the flu. Then, as we grow, the more classic pneumonias (with their possible complications) tend to have bacteria as their predominant cause.
In this sense, even if we are not talking about atypical pneumonia, attention must be paid to pneumococcus. This germ, also called Streptococcus pneumoniaeis a capsulated bacterium, that is, covered in a capsule of polysaccharides (sugars). It is highly pathogenic, it is transmitted and spreads via air through coughing, sneezing and droplets of saliva while speaking. Usually, when contact with an organism and the consequent infection occurs, the pneumococcus is positioned at the level of the upper airwaysin the oropharyngeal tract which is colonized by the bacterium which begins to reproduce and move to the sites where it finds the most congenial environment to cause the disease. The privileged sites in children are the middle ear, the otitis media is a manifestation very frequently caused by a previous pneumococcal infection, resulting in the paranasal sinuses sinusitisand the lungs where the bacterium can cause bronchitis and pneumonia.
The pneumococcus can also move to more vital sites such as the brain, when it crosses the blood-brain barrier, causing meningitis and, again at the pulmonary level, can cause pleural compromise; if the pneumococcus spreads into the peritoneum, it invades the blood causing bacteremia, a very serious disease that can evolve into sepsis. There bacteremic pneumonia together with meningitis and sepsis they form the triad of invasive pneumococcal diseases.
Hemorrhagic fever viruses and more
There are viruses, which science knows, that develop in very limited areas of Africa. And they can give, as happens, microepidemics. Generally these are infections that affect small groups of people, and it is very unlikely that these diseases can also be transferred to other areas of the planet, perhaps through airline flights, because they quickly lead to very serious pathological conditions. Therefore, even if the risk of contagion is extremely low outside the circle of those who live in close contact with the patient, what happens must be followed with great attention.
With regard to Ebolais part of the filovirus family. Contagion between man and man is very simple. Causes severe fevers with widespread bleeding.
The Marburg virus presents similar signs and symptoms and also in this case human-to-human contagion is very simple.
There Lassa feverfinally, it is caused by an arenavirus and is transmitted by rodents as well as by human-to-human contagion. The cases are concentrated in West Africa. The infection leads to respiratory and nervous system symptoms.
It takes time to understand
In short, Congo disease still presents many points to explore and learn about. And we must not forget that the cases were concentrated in one‘very poor areasparsely populated and in which there can be heavy traffic nutritional deficiencies. Above all, it must be remembered that therapies may not be optimal.
The hope is that it is not a “new” viruscapable of transferring from animals to humans and above all to spread and replicate in the human organism. As Covid showed us with the Sars-CoV-2 virus, there are infections that can somehow arise out of nowhere thanks to genetic recombinations that occur in animals which then transfer to humans. These frameworks tend to be a constant, even for environmental changes. But with one certainty. THE’eternal challenge between man, bacteria and viruses is destined to continue.
