Celebrate Virus Appreciation Day Every October 3
Do you appreciate viruses?
So … October 3 is Virus Appreciation Day.
We’re not sure what, exactly, there is to appreciate about viruses, but what the heck. October 3 is a bit light on celebrations, so why not celebrate the virus?
Of course, we’re also not sure what virus we’re supposed to be celebrating:
- Those microscopic little bits of DNA that make us so darn sick. And sometimes completely useless.
- Those lines of code that make our electronic devices so darn sick. And sometimes completely unusable.
Now, if we knew when this day was created, we might be able to figure it out. If the day came before computers became part of our everyday lives, then we’re likely celebrating the biological virus.
If it was more recent … Well, we’d still be unsure, but it’d be quite possible we’re talking about the computer virus.
To be on the safe side, we’re just going to go ahead and appreciate both today! Or at least appreciate our ability to fight them. And in some cases use them to fight other deadly diseases, like cancer.
A Dose of Biological Virus History & Trivia
Viruses are tiny little life forms that need other cells to make more of themselves. When they enter our cells, they reproduce, usually killing the cells.
Most of the time infection with a virus just makes us feel bad for a little while. But there are also some nasty viruses that can kill us. Sometimes with frightening speed and gruesomeness.
- Ebola
- Marburg (similar to Ebola)
- Hantavirus
- Dengue
- Rotavirus (mostly deadly in the developing world)
But we’ve gotten better at fighting them.
And using them. Like Dr. Edward Jenner’s idea to use the cowpox virus to protect people from the smallpox virus (Variola). Cowpox is a mild disease. Smallpox is not. One strain of smallpox kills some 33% of those who get infected. Dr. Jenner noticed that people who got sick with cowpox didn’t die from smallpox.
Viola! Cowpox became a vaccine against smallpox.
Of course, viruses hadn’t been identified in 1796. That didn’t happen until 1901, when scientists discovered the yellow fever virus.
But Dr. Jenner was clearly onto something. Almost 200 years later (and with even better vaccines), scientists declared smallpox eradicated from the wild. It now exists only in storage in just two labs (as far as we know).
About the time we were getting rid of smallpox we discovered the Ebola virus, in 1976. We still don’t have a good handle on that one.
Just a few years later, in the early 1980s, AIDS emerged as the newest deadly viral epidemic. We do have a pretty good handle on this one. We haven’t gotten rid of the AIDS virus, but we have turned infection with it into a chronic, manageable disease (usually) instead of a death sentence. It only took around 20 years.
And recently researchers have been looking into using viruses to target and kill cancer cells. Some of the studies have shown promising results against some cancers.
Then there are the viruses that only infect bacterial cells. They’re called bacteriophages, and scientists are studying them to use to improve food safety.
A Snippet of Computer Virus History & Trivia
A computer virus makes both you and your computer feel bad. This little bit of code hides in other programs or files. They might come from programs (especially freeware or shareware) you download, an email attachment or even a website you visit.
Once it gets on your computer it will do whatever the code tells it to. It might:
- Make copies of itself and infect other files on your computer. That could make those files unreadable.
- Send copies of itself to people in your email address book.
- Steal your personal information and send it back to its creator.
- Erase your whole hard drive. Yikes!
These things may make you feel irritated enough to want to throw your computer out a window.
People started writing computer viruses about the time “regular” people started using computers, in the 1980s. Before that computers were in very limited use and were mostly isolated.
Once more people began using computers and sharing programs (with floppy disks and limited networks), introducing viruses became simple. And, for some, fun.
Of course, the internet made things even easier. And the current worldwide connectivity and the internet of things means one little bit of code can give the whole world a horrible “flu.”
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficially infectious holiday.
How to Celebrate Virus Appreciation Day
Take a moment to appreciate the complexity of such tiny little life forms that can hide in our cells. Or little bits of code that can render a whole computer nothing more than a big paperweight.
If you’re interested in learning more about viruses, you might be interested in one of these books.
For biological viruses (and other infectious agents):
- A Planet of Viruses, by Carl Zimmer
- Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past , Present and Future, by Michael B. A. Oldstone
- Killer Germs, by Barry Zimmerman
- Parasite Rex: Instide the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures, by Carl Zimmer
For computer viruses:
- The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses, by Mark Ludwig
- Computer Viruses for Dummies, by Peter H. Gregory
- Computer Security: Keeping Your Computer Safe with Virus Removal, by Scot Hughes
- Computer viruses, woms, data diddlers, killer programs, and other threats to your system, by John McAfee: This book is old (1989), so it’s only useful for historical information, but it’s still an interesting read. Especially when you realize he actually predicted a lot of what happened in the years after he wrote the book.
Do you have any other ideas for celebrating Virus Appreciation Day? Which kind of virus will you be celebrating?
