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What is a "Vector"?
In Maths, a vector is a direction towards something.
Similarly, in biology a vector is something that carries an entity from one place to the next. This can be from surface to surface, or between people.
AN ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
There has been much public discussion about washing hands - and appropriately so.
But consider the example of the public lavatory. The contaminant is not COVID-19 in this common example, but the principle is the same.
- Imagine you have defecated in a public lavatory.
- Your faeces are, of course, contaminated with E.coli and other disease causing bugs.
- You use a barrier between your hands & the contaminants - the lavatory paper - to wipe yourself clean.
- As is possible, the paper ruptures and some faeces contaminates your finger.
- Your finger is now a vector, which can transfer contamination from one point to the next.
- So you do up the buckle on your belt and the belt is now also a vector.
- You flush the lavatory and the flush button becomes a vector.
- You unlock the cubicle door and the latch on the lock becomes a vector.
- You know, of course, you must wash your hands immediately. As you turn on the tap at the basin, the tap becomes a vector.
- You wash your hands clean of all the bugs under the running water... but as the tap was previously made a vector, turn off the tap re-contaminates your hand.
- You wipe then dry your hands on the communal towel and the towel becomes a vector.
- As you exit the room using the door, the door handle becomes a vector.
- If an infected Person A sneezes into their hand, it is covered with contaminated particles. The hand and fingers become a vector.
- If Person A's hand turns a door handle, the handle becomes a vector.
- When Person B's hand touches the same door handle, their hand too becomes a vector.
- Person B scratches their nose - their nose becomes a vector.
- Person B breathes in the virus particles from their nose... and lo and behold out virus has discovered respiratory cells ready for infection.
- Once inside Person B's body, the virus is readily accepted into cells which it can hijack to produce more virus particles.
- A Chain of Infection has been established.
An Exponential Chain
FROM JUST ONE VECTOR...
It takes approximately two weeks for the infection to spread throughout Person A's lungs, before coughing and other symptoms present.
Needless to say, one infected person’s sneezes or coughs can affect many people - especially if they are grouped together in a closed space. From one person to many, an exponential chain of infection occurs - which can then become an epidemic and a pandemic.
TOUCH RESONANCE And Self Protection
Responsible people, those who understand the Chain of Infection, can use touch resonance to avoid further contamination. Touch resonance on contaminated fingers avoids further vectorisation by ensuring people do not touch any surfaces until the hands are washed and disinfected.
However we cannot assume that every person that uses the public lavatory is so hygienic. To protect ourselves, we should assume, each time we use a public loo, that others will have contaminated the shared surfaces: the flush button, cubicle latch, taps, towels and door handles.