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MERS Research Paper

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My name is Drew Schwenk and I am a senior at St. Francis DeSales High School. I intend to study chemistry or biochemistry at either Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame, or The Ohio State University. I am currently enrolled in a class at Nationwide Children’s Hospital called Mechanisms of Human Health and Disease where I am learning about the subjects of anatomy, molecular cancer biology, and biochemistry, as well as developing real world skills like networking. I chose to study the disease MERS because it is exciting to learn about and to follow breakthroughs of a newly discovered viral disease. Advertisement/Pitch: In the last three years a novel coronavirus has swept through countries like Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and most …show more content…

MERS was first discovered in a man from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian doctors thought he had the flu, but when they looked at his snot under a microscope, they saw he had a brand new virus. Doctors and researchers believe the man caught if from a camel, or another Middle East livestock animal like a pig or cow. One can catch MERS through close contact with a person, or contact with livestock poop. It spreads in the same way the flu does: through sneezing, coughing, and people not washing their hands. When a person catches the virus, the virus attacks the cells in his or her lungs and airways. Once the virus reproduces in a cell, it leaves that cell and goes to infect another one. It is a lot like when you guys go out to recess. You start at the swing set, but once you have played enough on it, you move to the slide. And once you’ve played enough on the slide, you move to the monkey bars. Soon, a majority of the playground has been played on. Likewise, the MERS virus can spread throughout a large number of cells in the lungs. Once the virus begins to spread throughout the body, symptoms of fever, cough, breathing difficulties, and body aches begin to set in. Unfortunately, there is no cure for MERS, so doctors treat patients by keeping them as comfortable as they …show more content…

I would also provide a broad description of the disease’s mechanism of infection. The first confirmed case of MERS was in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It was identified through an immunofluorescent examination of the man’s the sputum (mucous/saliva coughed up from respiratory tract). The Saudi Arabian researchers tested the man’s sputum and blood against a group of known disease antibodies, and they did not match. A researcher continued to do more tests, and identified it as a novel coronavirus. Many viruses are named after where they are discovered, so MERS was named after the Middle East. It is believed that this man, or ‘patient zero’, obtained the virus from a camel or another Middle Eastern livestock animal. One can catch MERS through close contact with a person, like living with or caring for a person, or through contact with infected animals and infected animal by-products, like spit or waste. It is thought to be spread like the flu, through coughing and sneezing. The MERS virus rapidly infects cells in the respiratory tract. Each virus has a spike protein that recognizes cell receptors on the cell membranes of cells in the lungs and respiratory tract. The S1 piece of the spike protein binds to the cell membrane, and the S2 piece of the spike protein mediates cell membrane fusion. The virus then inserts its RNA, and

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