This is an overview of the lung conditions of Covid coronavirus patients

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has spread from Wuhan, China, to several countries in Asia, Europe, to the United States. Researchers are also busy researching everything about this virus, including the lung conditions of patients infected with COVID-19. Here's the picture.

COVID-19 to date has claimed more than 1,700 lives and caused about 71,000 cases, which is being investigated by experts in various countries. One of these studies concerns the lung conditions of COVID-19 coronavirus patients.

How is the lung condition of the patient infected with the virus which is said to be similar to SARS and MERS-CoV?

Lung conditions of COVID-19 coronavirus patients

Source: Radiological Society of North America

Most of the patients who suffer from COVID-19, this virus appears and ends in the same organs, namely the lungs. This is because the plague allegedly originated from pangolins and other wildlife, including viruses that attack the respiratory tract.

In fact, COVID-19 is almost similar to SARS-CoV considering that they are both under the same virus umbrella, namely the coronavirus.

After the SARS outbreak was over, WHO reported that this disease attacked the lungs in three phases, namely:

• virus replication
• immune hyper-reactivity
• lung damage

However, not all patients face the three phases above. In fact, only 25% of SARS patients have difficulty breathing.

The same condition applies to COVID-19. According to several reports at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the symptoms of COVID-19 were not too severe, aka mild in 82% of cases, the rest were in severe or critical condition.

Meanwhile, according to research from the journal Radiological Society of North America , the lung condition in COVID-19 coronavirus patients turns out to have white patches in them.

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The researchers found out this condition through examination CT scan . Those who underwent the examination were patients who showed symptoms resembling pneumonia.

From the CT scan, it was seen that there were white spots on the lungs of a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus. The white patches are referred to as ground glass opacity (GGO) and is usually found subpleural in the lower lobe.

The presence of white spots indicates that the patient has fluid in his lung cavity. This fluid is actually not specific to COVID-19, but also for other infections.

Therefore, experts still need to research about fluids or spots in the lungs of COVID-19 patients. In this study also showed that patients who recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia showed a fairly severe condition. The severe condition appeared about 10 days after the initial symptoms of the coronavirus.

Then, when you have undergone treatment and examination CT scan After 14 days of initial symptoms, signs of improvement in the lungs began to appear.

How does the coronavirus attack the lungs?

Actually, diagnosing the lung conditions of patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus through CT scans is not enough to determine whether they are positive or not. Other factors are still needed to confirm this, such as symptoms, clinical history, and use of special COVID-19 testing kits.

Some of you may be wondering, what happens to the body when this crown-like virus attacks the respiratory tract?

The first phase of the coronavirus attacks the lungs

As previously explained, most patients infected with the coronavirus start and end up in the same organ, namely the lungs.

When it enters the body, it will usually cause symptoms similar to the common cold, such as fever, coughing, sneezing, and possibly causing pneumonia.

When a new viral infection enters the body, the coronavirus will attack human lung cells. Lung cells are divided into two classes, which produce mucus and are shaped like hair sticks, namely cilia.

If dirty mucus is in the body, its function remains the same, namely protecting lung tissue from bacteria and keeping the respiratory organs moist. In addition, cilia cells beat around the mucus to clear pollen and viruses.

The SARS virus can infect and kill cilia cells. Then, the coronavirus will fill the patient's lungs with fluid. Therefore, experts suspect that the same condition occurs in the lungs of COVID-19 coronavirus patients and develops pneumonia.

Second phase

If this condition occurs, the body will react by activating the immune system and filling the lungs with immune cells. These immune cells function to clean up damage and repair lung tissue in COVID-19 coronavirus patients.

When cells are working properly, this virus-fighting process usually occurs in areas that are only infected. However, it is not uncommon for the human immune system to be damaged and these cells not only kill the virus, but also the healthy tissue in the body.

As a result, the patient is at risk of developing severe conditions, such as viruses or fluid clogging the lungs and worsening pneumonia.

Third phase

Entering the third phase, lung conditions in coronavirus (COVID-19) patients begin to worsen. Lung damage continues to increase and is at risk of causing respiratory failure.

If respiratory failure is not fatal, the patient can usually survive only with permanent damage to the lungs.

This condition also occurred in SARS. The SARS virus causes holes in the lungs that resemble honeycombs, putting the new coronavirus at risk.

The hole from the virus most likely appears due to a hyperactive response in the immune system. The immune system, which is supposed to protect and tighten the lungs, actually creates holes and cuts in the respiratory organs.

If this condition occurs, the patient will need to be put on a ventilator so they can breathe. In addition, inflammation in the lungs also causes the membrane between the air sacs and blood vessels to be penetrated. As a result, the lungs can fill with fluid and it is possible that the oxygen level in the blood decreases.

Lung conditions like this can certainly cause COVID-19 coronavirus patients to become clogged with fluids and make it difficult for them to breathe, causing death.

In fact, further research is still needed considering that the lung conditions in each COVID-19 coronavirus patient are different. This is because there are some people who experience symptoms not related to pneumonia, so researchers are still trying to find out more.

Pulmonary conditions in other COVID-19 coronavirus patients

Basically, the lung conditions in COVID-19 coronavirus patients are similar, including in adults and the elderly.

This condition can be worsened by the patient's history. Starting from diabetes, heart, to disorders of the respiratory system.

For example, adolescents aged 18 years without any health problems will have additional lung capacity which is not used unless they are running.

As people age, the function of the lungs to process the air they breathe will decrease even in healthy people. Therefore, this additional capacity will be lost when you are old, both in women and in older men.

What's more, if you are an elderly person infected with COVID-19, the virus will fill your lungs when the spare function no longer functions. In fact, it is likely that lung function after recovering from COVID-19 will not return to normal.

Here are some lung conditions in COVID-19 coronavirus patients apart from adults and the elderly.

1. Child

Not only adults, children can also become COVID-19 coronavirus patients and have lung conditions that are problematic when infected.

According to research from the journal Pediatrics Half of the children in the study had mild symptoms. Starting from fever, tired quickly, dry cough, to nausea and diarrhea.

More than one-third, that is, about 39% of children develop moderate conditions with additional symptoms, such as pneumonia and lung problems. In fact, they also experience shortness of breath who don't know where it is coming from.

What's more, there are 125 children, which is about 6 percent, who are experiencing serious conditions and one of them has died due to coronavirus infection.

This event may occur because some of these children have a history of lung problems that can cause respiratory and other organ failure.

However, the death rate due to COVID-19 experienced by children is much lower than that of adults and the elderly. This may be because children have healthier lungs.

You see, adults are exposed to pollution more often during their lifetime, so that when infected with the coronavirus they are at risk of developing a severe condition. As a result of exposure to this pollution can weaken the immune system and accelerate aging of the body.

2. Smoker

It is no longer a secret that smoking is one of the things that can damage lung function, especially if you are a positive patient with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In fact, many studies have shown that smokers are more at risk of developing severe complications due to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This is because cigarettes can damage the lungs, thus weakening their function so that they don't work.

For example, the lungs produce mucus, but smokers' lungs produce more and thicker mucus which is difficult to clear from these respiratory organs.

As a result, mucus clogs the lungs and is more susceptible to infection. In addition, smoking has a bad effect on the immune system and makes it more difficult to fight infections.

3. People with diabetes

For people with diabetes who are positive patients with COVID-19, they may have been warned many times about the condition of their bodies, especially lung function.

Early research shows that around 25% of people who go to hospital for COVID-19 infection also have diabetes.

COVID-19 patients who have diabetes are more likely to experience serious complications and even die from the virus. One reason is that high blood sugar levels cause the body's immune system to weaken, making it less able to fight infection.

This is even more so if you have a history of diabetes along with heart and lung disease. In addition, people with diabetes who are infected with COVID-19 are also at risk of diabetes complications, such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This condition can occur when high levels of acids called ketones build up in the blood.

This can cause you to lose electrolytes, which makes viral infections more difficult to control.

Treatment that the patient is undergoing

In fact, until now there are no drugs specifically designed to treat positive patients with the COVID-19 coronavirus, including treating lung infections that they experience.

Therefore, the government in each infected country strives to promote efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Meanwhile, patients who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 are likely to be treated using a variety of methods.

For example, a COVID-19 patient who also has pneumonia may require hospital treatment. Starting from oxygen, a ventilator to help breathe, to intravenous (IV) fluids so that patients do not become dehydrated.

In addition, there are several other ways that doctors can relieve symptoms experienced by COVID-19 positive patients so that lung function improves, such as:

• administration of antivirals, such as remdesivir, which is used to treat Ebola
• the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine combined with antibiotics

Normally, the lungs are the organs that are first attacked by the coronavirus in a COVID-19 positive patient. What's more, if the patient suffers from problems with the respiratory system, he is more at risk of serious complications.

Therefore, the public should not underestimate the effects of COVID-19 on sufferers, so they must continue to make efforts to prevent and physical distancing .