왜 코로나바이러스는 젊은 사람도 죽이나?

중국발 코로나바이러스가 확산되면서 남녀노소를 막론하고 수많은 사람들의 생명을 빼앗아가고 있습니다.

 

우리가 알기로는 코로나바이러스가 주로 기저 질환이 있거나 노인들의 생명을 빼앗아가는 것으로 알고 있는데 반드시 그렇지 않다는 것입니다.

 

코로나바이러스는 소위 비정상적인 질병으로 불특정 다수에게 침입하여 가족을 해체하고 사회를 위협하고 있습니다.

 

정말 남의 일이 아닙니다.

 

정부에서 수시로 보내오는 문자 메시지에 따라 위생 수칙을 준수하고 사회적 거리 두기를 일상화하여 코로나바이러스를 퇴치하지 않으면 안됩니다.

 

다음은 CNN에 실린 안타까운 기사입니다.

 

 

When 30-year-old Ben Luderer started to feel sick, he wasn't that surprised. Just a few days earlier, his wife, Brandy, had tested positive for coronavirus, but there wasn't much to it. 

All she had was a really low-grade temperature, one that the doctors didn't even really consider to be a fever, she said.

She had some congestion, but she was on the mend.

He wasn't all that worried, either, when he started feeling unwell. After all, they were both young and healthy.

30세의 벤 루드러가 아프기 시작했을 때, 그는 그렇게 놀라지 않았다. 바로 며칠 전에 그의 아내 브랜디는 코로나바이러스 양성반응을 보였지만 별것 아니었다. 
그녀가 지닌 상태란 것은 정말 낮은 체온이었는데, 의사들이 열이 있다고 생각조차 하지 않는 온도였다고 그녀는 말했다. 

그녀는 약간의 혼잡을 겪었지만, 회복되고 있었다. 그도 역시 몸이 불편해지기 시작했을 때 그렇게 걱정하지는 않았다. 결국, 그들은 둘 다 젊고 건강했다.

 

The two worked in the Cliffside Park School District in New Jersey, both as special education teachers -- she at School #4, he at School #6. A star baseball player in high school, he continued his passion by coaching the varsity baseball team. 

For Ben, however, his symptoms quickly became more severe. He had more shortness of breath, and by the last Friday in March, he told Brandy it was time to go to the emergency room.

"He was really concerned," Brandy says. "He came into our bedroom where I was laying, and he said, you know, I've got to go, I've got to take myself to the hospital." 

두 사람은 뉴저지에 있는 클리프사이드 파크 스쿨 지구에서 특수 교육 교사로 일했다. 그녀는 4번 학교, 그는 6번 학교에서 일했다. 고교 시절 스타 야구 선수였던 그는 대학 야구팀을 지도하며 열정을 이어갔다. 
그러나 벤에게 있어서 그의 증상은 금방 더 심해졌다. 그는 더욱 숨이 가빠졌고, 3월의 마지막 금요일이 되자 브랜디에게 응급실로 갈 시간이라고 말했다. 

브랜디는 "그는 정말 걱정하고 있었다"고 말했다. "내가 누워 있는 우리 침실로 들어오더니, 있잖아, 나 가야 돼, 병원에 가야 해." 

"Are you sure you want to go there?" she asked him. He said "Yes, I need to." Immediately, Brandy drove him to the hospital. She couldn't go in with him, though, because they weren't accepting visitors.

So, she sat in the car the entire evening and they texted back and forth. "He updated me the whole time," she said. 
"정말 거기 가고 싶어?"라고 그녀가 그에게 물었다. 그는 "그래, 그래야겠어."라고 말했다. 즉시, 브랜디는 그를 병원으로 태워다 주었다. 

하지만 그녀는 그와 함께 들어갈 수 없었다. 왜냐하면 그들은 방문객들을 받아들이지 않았기 때문이다. 

그래서 그녀는 저녁 내내 차 안에 앉아 있었고 그들은 앞뒤로 문자를 보냈다. "그는 내내 나를 업데이트했다."라고 그녀가 말했다. 

 

 

At the hospital, Ben received oxygen and responded well, Brandy said. They gave him fluids and Tylenol and then sent him home that same evening. "Keep doing what you're doing at home," they said.

The following Sunday, he was feeling better and showing signs of improvement, his wife said. He got out of bed and ate dinner for the first time.

이 병원에서 벤은 산소를 공급받았고 반응이 좋았다고 브랜디는 말했다. 그들은 그에게 액체와 타이레놀을 주고 같은 날 저녁 집으로 돌려보냈다. 그들은 "집에서 하는 일을 계속하라"고 말했다.
그 다음 일요일, 그는 기분이 좋아졌고 호전될 기미를 보였다고 그의 아내는 말했다. 그는 침대에서 일어나 처음으로 저녁을 먹었다.

 

 

"Sunday was a great day. He was up moving around, talking to us," Brandy said. Ben was on the road to recovery, it seemed. That night, however, his symptoms returned.

"Ben always said the nights had been the worst for him, he would sweat and when he laid down a certain way," Brandy said. "It was particularly hard for him to breathe."

"일요일은 아주 좋은 날이었습니다. 브랜디는 "그는 우리와 이야기를 나누며 돌아다녔다"고 말했다. 벤은 회복의 길에 있는 것 같았다. 그러나 그날 밤 그의 증세는 다시 나타났다.
브랜디는 "벤은 식은 땀이 나서 항상 밤이 자신에게 최악이었다고 말했다." "그는 허여간 누워 있었다. 라고 브렌디는 말했다.

 

 

That night, Ben had an especially hard time getting comfortable. Because Ben was sleeping in the bedroom, and Brandy on the couch, they were texting back and forth to communicate. At one point, Ben texted his wife and said, "I'm struggling." Brandy asked him if he needed to go back to the ER, and Ben replied that he wasn't sure.

그날 밤, 벤은 특히 편안해지는 데 어려움을 겪었다." 벤은 침실에서 자고 있었고, 브랜디는 소파에서 자고 있었기 때문에 그들은 의사소통을 위해 앞뒤로 문자를 주고받고 있었다. 어느 순간, 벤이 아내에게 문자를 보내 "힘들겠다"고 했고, 브랜디는 그에게 응급실로 돌아갈 필요가 있느냐고 물었고, 벤은 확신이 없다고 대답했다.

 

 

"So, I just tried to do as much as I could to make him comfortable, you know, calm down his breathing, you know, get him to cool down," Brandy said. She borrowed a humidifier from a friend to try that. 

Once Ben finally settled into bed, Brandy listened through the door of their bedroom.

"그래서, 나는 그를 편안하게 하기 위해 최선을 다했을 뿐이고, 그의 호흡을 진정시키고, 그를 진정시키기 위해 노력했다"고 브랜디는 말했다. 그녀는 그것을 시도하기 위해 친구로부터 가습기를 빌렸다. 
일단 벤이 마침내 침대로 자리를 잡자 브랜디는 그들의 침실 문을 통해 귀를 기울였다.

 

 

"I could hear through the door that he was still breathing, and I fell asleep," she said.

She checked in on him again at 2 a.m, and all seemed OK.

However, when she woke at 6 a.m., she found her 30-year-old husband lifeless in their bed. 

"Whether he knew you for five minutes or he knew you for his whole entire life, he would give you the same respect and try to reach out and help you and make you laugh in any way possible. That was just the type of selfless person he was," remembered Brandy. 

문틈으로 그가 아직 숨을 쉬고 있다는 소리가 들리더니 잠이 들었다"고 말했다. 

그녀는 새벽 2시에 그를 다시 확인했고, 모든 것이 괜찮아 보였다. 

하지만 오전 6시에 일어났을 때, 그녀는 30세의 남편이 그들의 침대에서 생기가 없다는 것을 발견했다. 
"그가 당신을 5분 동안 알았던, 아니면 평생 동안 당신을 알았던 간에, 그는 당신에게 똑같은 존경을 표하고 손을 뻗어 당신을 돕고 어떤 식으로든 당신을 웃게 만들려고 할 겁니다. "그는 사심 없는 사람일 뿐이야." 브랜디가 기억했다. 

 

 

As I listened to Brandy tell the story, my heart broke for her. They were husband and wife, but also best friends, both working in the same school district, driving to work every day. She didn't know what she would do with herself on Monday, let alone the rest of her life. 
브랜디가 그 이야기를 하는 것을 들으면서 나는 그녀에게 마음이 아팠다. 그들은 남편과 아내였지만, 둘 다 같은 학군에서 일하면서 매일 차를 몰고 출근하는 절친한 친구였다. 그녀는 남은 생애는 고사하고 월요일에는 스스로 어떻게 할지도 몰랐다. 

 

 

And Brandy was left with a mystery. She knew her husband was sick, but how was it possible that a young, healthy 30-year-old with no pre-existing conditions declined so swiftly?

Ben Luderer's story is one of many that have perplexed health officials around the globe.

Why is it that some young people are getting sick and dying so abruptly? 

그리고 브랜디는 미스터리를 남겼다. 그녀는 남편이 아프다는 것을 알고 있었지만, 어떻게 미리 병세가 없는 젊고 건강한 30세의 젊은이가 그렇게 빨리 쇠퇴할 수 있었을까?
벤 루더의 이야기는 전세계 보건 당국자들을 당혹스럽게 하는 많은 것들 중 하나이다. 

왜 젊은 사람들이 갑자기 병에 걸려 죽어가고 있는 것일까? 

 

 

It is true that Covid-19 seems to most seriously affect older people, particularly those with pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes.

It could be that an elderly person's immune systems may not be able to fight off the disease as well, and the virus can more easily replicate, overwhelming the body and causing multiple organ system failure.

코비드-19가 노인들, 특히 심장병, 폐질환, 당뇨병과 같은 기존 질환이 있는 사람들에게 가장 심각한 영향을 미치는 것처럼 보이는 것은 사실이다. 

노인들의 면역 체계는 질병과 싸울 수 없고 바이러스는 더 쉽게 복제할 수 있어 몸을 압도하고 여러 개의 장기 체계에 장애를 일으킬 수 있다.

 

 

And yet, as we start to look deeper and hear more stories, it is becoming apparent there are many people like Ben, who are younger and still get very sick and die.

I recently heard the story of  39-year-old Conrad Buchanan, a healthy, vivacious Florida DJ, who also died after having coronavirus despite having no underlying conditions, according to his wife. 
하지만, 우리가 더 깊이 들여다보고 더 많은 이야기를 듣기 시작하면서, 벤과 같이 어린 많은 사람들이 여전히 앓아 죽어간다는 것이 명백해지고 있다. 

최근 그의 아내에 따르면 건강하고 활기찬 플로리다 DJ인 39세의 콘라드 부차난의 이야기를 들었는데, 이 역시 기저 질환이 없는데도 코로나바이러스를 앓다가 사망했다. 

 

 

We have known for some time that this new disease, Covid-19, was not only an older person's disease.

It has become clear that the young and healthy are by no means immune to this infection and could become sick enough to require hospitalization. 

In an early snapshot from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2,449 patients whose age was known, 18% were between age 45 and 54, and 29% were between 20 and 44 years old.

Among those who were hospitalized, 18% were ages 45 to 54 and 20% were ages 20 to 44.

우리는 얼마 전부터 이 새로운 병인 코비드-19가 노인병만은 아니라는 것을 알고 있었다. 

젊고 건강한 사람들은 결코 이 감염에 면역이 되지 않으며 입원이 필요할 정도로 병에 걸릴 수 있다는 것이 명백해졌다. 
미국 질병통제예방센터의 초기 스냅샷에서, 나이가 알려진 2,449명의 환자들을 대상으로, 18%가 45세에서 54세 사이, 29%가 20세에서 44세 사이였다. 

입원 환자 중 18%는 45~54세, 20%는 20~44세였다.

 

 

Younger people are far less likely to die, but there is an unusual pattern that seems to be emerging. As Dr. Anthony Fauci told me, it is what makes the coronavirus such an "unusual disease." 

"I'm fascinated," he said, " ... by what I would call the pathogenesis."
젊은 층은 사망할 확률이 훨씬 낮지만, 점점 나타나는 듯한 특이한 패턴이 있다. 앤서니 파피 박사가 말했듯이, 그것이 코로나바이러스를 그렇게 "비정상적인 질병"으로 만드는 것이다. 
"나는 매료되었다"라고 그는 말했다. "나는 병원균이라고 불릴만한 것에 ..."

 

 

"You know, you get so many people who do well and then some people who just, bingo, they're on a respirator, they're on ECMO(a cardio-pulmonart machine) and they're dead,"

Fauci told me when I interviewed him for my podcast, :Coronavirus: Facr vs. Fiction."

"I mean, the dichotomy between that, there's something there, Sanjay, that we're missing from a pathogenesis standpoint.

And I don't think it's only if you're elderly or if you have underlying conditions. There's something else going on there that hopefully we'll ultimately figure out."

"상태가 좋은 사람들이 너무 많아. 그리고 몇몇 사람들은, 빙고, 그들은 인공호흡기를 착용하고, ECMO(심장호흡기)를 하고, 그들은 죽었어."

내가 팟캐스트를 위해 그를 인터뷰했을 때, Fauci는 말했다. "코로나바이러스: 사실 vs. 허구." 
"내 말은, 그 사이에 이분법적인 것이 있다는 거야, 산제이, 우리가 병균적인 관점에서 놓치고 있는 게 있어. 

그리고 나이든 사람일 때나 기저 질환이 있을 때만 그런다고는 생각하지 않는다. 우리가 궁극적으로 밝혀낼 수 있는 다른 일이 거기서 벌어지고 있어."

 

 

 

* 사진 및 기사 출처: CNN