What is Chicken Pox?
This is a varicella-zoster virus cell.
Chicken Pox (also known as Varicella) is a virus with which younger children often get infected. Red blisters form all over the body and become extremely itchy. This virus is cause by the varicella-zoster (VZV) virus, one of eight herpes viruses.
The Chicken Pox can be deadly in people whose immune system is very weak and cannot fight off this disease. This is why it is important to take your vitamins, and stay healthy!
The structure of the varicella virus is very complicated. The outside of it (the envelope) is made up of lipids, which give the virus structure and which also contain glycoproteins that help the virus find and attach to the cells it's going to inhabit. Next is the tegument, which is composed of the virus, enzymes and proteins. The virus uses those enzymes and proteins to reproduce. The third layer is the capsid, which contains and protects the DNA the virus is going to use to infect the host cell. Lastly, there is the DNA, which codes proteins that the virus needs to replicate inside the host cell.
This virus doesn't have a very complex replication cycle. It attaches to the host cell, inserts its DNA into the nucleus of the cell, then moves on. Then, once the host cell divides, it will divide with the chicken pox virus inside it. This virus goes into a lytic cycle, causing the infected person to get sick with the chicken pox. Even though it may seem as though the virus runs its course completely in a week or so, it stays in a person's system (lysogenic cycle) and, later in life, may flare up again,causing shingles.
The Chicken Pox can be deadly in people whose immune system is very weak and cannot fight off this disease. This is why it is important to take your vitamins, and stay healthy!
The structure of the varicella virus is very complicated. The outside of it (the envelope) is made up of lipids, which give the virus structure and which also contain glycoproteins that help the virus find and attach to the cells it's going to inhabit. Next is the tegument, which is composed of the virus, enzymes and proteins. The virus uses those enzymes and proteins to reproduce. The third layer is the capsid, which contains and protects the DNA the virus is going to use to infect the host cell. Lastly, there is the DNA, which codes proteins that the virus needs to replicate inside the host cell.
This virus doesn't have a very complex replication cycle. It attaches to the host cell, inserts its DNA into the nucleus of the cell, then moves on. Then, once the host cell divides, it will divide with the chicken pox virus inside it. This virus goes into a lytic cycle, causing the infected person to get sick with the chicken pox. Even though it may seem as though the virus runs its course completely in a week or so, it stays in a person's system (lysogenic cycle) and, later in life, may flare up again,causing shingles.