Covid-19: the scourge of God

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Nicolas Cardoso Lauxen, a first year Brazilian medical student at Universidade da Região de Joinville (Univille). He is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writers and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Covid-19 is a disease that distorts not only the worldwide health, but also the global economy. The new coronavirus is a Positive-sense RNA virus that has a high spread potential through the air (person to person) due to its large degree of infection. With an incubation period of 2 to 14 days, SARS-CoV-2 has been poorly identified in infected people, who, without containment measures, have passed the virus to other citizens of the world. Its identification may be done by respiratory material analysis from individuals who are suspected to be infected. On the other hand the common symptoms are: high fever, runny nose, cough and loss of smell and taste. Fortunately, we are getting vaccinated and developing hygiene habits, however there are so many things to improve.

Everything begins with a cough and a sneeze, afterwards exhaustion encompasses the whole body and the lungs do not work as they should; so the patient needs to be intubated. The family prays and, to save a life, the doctors work until they cannot work anymore. From this very common chain reaction, there are two ends: salvation or death. In the beginning, society did not think a “little flu” would cross the ocean from China to other continents. This was the biggest mistake.

Throughout the time the world was suffering from Covid-19, global leaders came together to decide the destiny for this new illness: a pandemic or not. Unfortunately, it took 2.5 years of pain, 2.5 years of full ICUs, 2.5 years of death (according to WHO data, more than 14 million of deaths, directly or indirectly, were caused by Covid-19), 2.5 years of a race against time to get a vaccine. 

Numbers: for many politicians, our losts are just numbers, while for civilians these numbers represent a mother, a father, a family member. In Brazil, as an example, thousands of citizens were buried in collective cemeteries without the family having the opportunity to say goodbye. Moreover, social inequality was shown when citizens faced choices. The richest had more options, for example, treatment in private hospitals and the ability to purchase expensive medicines, while the lower class were waiting for any ICU bed. Education, indeed, was ravaged by inequality too, since, during the lockdown, some persons had internet, computer and comfortable chairs for watching on-line classes, while others, at the same time, barely had a notebook to study.

Therefore, the vaccine, unquestionably, saved a lot of lives and prevented fatal clinical features. That is why the improvement of research is essential for developing new methods of treatment and to prevent the emergence of new illnesses. Also, it is important that the population acknowledge sanitary campaigns, which teaches hands sanitation and the use of masks. The world, surely, still faces the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of new virus mutations; for this reason, it is crucial to overcome the inequalities and come together as one kind: human.

About the author

Nicolas Cardoso Lauxen is a first year Brazilian medical student at Universidade da Região de Joinville (Univille). He is an active member of IFMSA Brazil and loves to share what they discuss in the group meetings with society. Mr. Lauxen has a dream: a better world for everyone, where all kinds of people have the same opportun