Question

The Case of the Cancerous Kiss. Part 2.

Three years had passed since Miley's mono infection, and a lot had changed. She had graduated and started a new, high-stress job in pharmaceutical sales. She broke up with her boyfriend, but that was probably for the best, since she had so little free time. After a particularly tough month, she woke up with a sore throat. It hurt fairly badly, but, remembering her college microbiology class, Miley knew it was probably caused by a virus. So, it seemed like a waste of time to go to the doctor when it would eventually clear up on its own, especially since there are no good antiviral drugs for a sore throat.

As the days progressed, the pain got worse and she developed a fever. She persevered and finally started feeling a little better. She was proud of herself for pushing through and not going to the doctor.

Two weeks after the sore throat resolved, she started having some new issues: reddish urine, abdominal swelling, ankle swelling, decreased urine output, and extreme fatigue. The new problems were initially not painful, and she chalked them up to being run down, or perhaps from lack of exercise and good eating habits, something her hectic schedule made difficult. After a few months with no improvement, she went to the doctor.

After running many tests, Miley was diagnosed with post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. It turned out that the bad sore throat had been strep throat. The bacterium got into her blood and traveled to her kidneys, where it caused inflammation and damage, leading to progressive loss of function.

If Miley had sought help earlier, the kidney damage might have been prevented or limited. But now tests showed she was in end-stage kidney failure. Miley was shocked to learn that she needed dialysis to stay alive, and only a kidney transplant could resolve the problem in the long term.

Fortunately, she was in good health otherwise, so when a donor organ became available, the transplant went fine. Miley knew there would be challenges after the transplant, including being on immuno-suppressive drugs for the rest of her life, but at least she was alive. After recovering, Miley decided that, while pharmaceutical sales were lucrative, she also wanted to have less stress in her professional life. With her background and connections, she was able to get a job in quality assurance at a local pharmaceutical company.

Miley did not go to the doctor because she presumed her sore throat was caused by a virus, and no treatment would be available. Why is it more difficult to treat a viral infection than a bacterial one?

Viruses can have a DNA or RNA genome. Bacteria only have a DNA genome.

Viruses replicate faster than bacteria.

Some viruses are enveloped, so they look more like our cells. Bacteria do not have an envelope.

Viruses use our host cell machinery to replicate. Bacteria do not.

Answer 1

The virus can easily be replicate inside the host cell. They multiply in very fast rate at increased speed. They use different mechanism to replicate and are fast in doing it..They insert their genetic material in to human DNA. In order to target virus, the genetic material of the virus us to be targeted. They are found to be active and hidden inside the cell. Hence to target them in large is difficult and to make them non viable or not active is very difficult. Hence fast and sharp medicine is required to identify them first with their target protein or gene and also to immediately deactivate their protein to avoid further replication on host cell.