What does a common virus like the flu actually *do?*

Question

We all know the common symptoms like high temperature, chills, runny nose, etc, but it’s my understanding that those are the reaction your immune system has to fight off the virus. So what does the virus itself do? As in, what danger, if left unchecked in our bodies, would it pose?

In: 10

Answer 1

The virus injects itself into your cells and hijacks their reproductive machinery to copy itself. The virus presents its own genetic material to cellular organelles that produce folding proteins based on genetic blueprints. These foreign proteins form virus copies.

Once the cell becomes stuffed with virus copies it bursts and dies, spreading the virus. Left unchecked, a virus destroys large swaths of whatever tissues in which the virus can reproduce.