by Edna L. Tello, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Baby dolls, puzzles and stuffed animals … two more hours on this cold, dry toy bin and I’ll perish.  My hope fades, then soars as a friendly human hand rescues me and drops me in the nostril caves. They are just as I remembered: dark, humid and inviting. I am Special Agent Virus—Rhino Virus 007. I belong to an elite group of about 200 special agents in the picorna family. My mission: Operation Rhinovirus Replication. The survival of my species depends on it.

PREPARATION
I float with the mucus up the nostril caves and into the warm regions within. The temperature is about 91 degrees Fahrenheit—optimal for viral replication.

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With my strength recovered, I seek entrance into one of the cells that surround me. I have been able to disguise myself enough that the cell receptor does recognize me as an invader—yet—and to my joy, the gate opens.

Once inside, I infiltrate the nucleus with my messenger RNA, which contains the information needed to make other virions like myself. Success. The cell begins to manufacture replications of me.

The process, however, is not without inevitable opposition. The host has its own defenders: imposing enforcement T and B cells—white blood cells that carry the badge of the Immune System and seek pests like myself. Once these agents detect an invader, they pounce. I shudder at the thought.

And yet I sit undetected in the nucleus for one to two days. Although this is called the latent period, it should be called the gloating period, for I relish in my triumph as I watch the nucleus, at my RNA’s command, produce more and more viruses. The human experiences no symptoms, and the defenders have been duped.

While invisible, this growing army strategizes.