Osmosis Jones & Opportunistic Infections
By: Aaron Lucas Soares
The Red Death: Bigger and Badder than Ebola?
Remember the Ebola virus? That viral disease that broke out in Western Africa back in 2013? Still don't remember? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. The Coronavirus virus pandemic has become the talk of the century, overshadowing Ebola. But are these the only infections we should be worried about? The movie, 'Osmosis Jones', gives us a glimpse of how deadly any infection can be if given the opportunity - even worse than Ebola!
Now I don't want to scare you, but rather educate you. Many of these diseases can be avoided by simply taking care of yourself and leading a healthy lifestyle.
In the movie, Frank (played by Bill Murray), contracts a disease named Thrax by eating an egg covered in chimp saliva that had fallen to the ground in the zoo. Thrax (also known as the red death), is based on the bacterial pathogen: Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax (https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/basics/index.html). It can be found in the soil and is commonly known to affect animals. A person can become infected if they come in contact with an infected animal. Being a zookeeper, it is not surprising that Frank picked up the pathogen.
Contagious or not?
One of the flaws with the movie comes with Thrax's first dialogue: "Careful, I'm contagious". From a biologist's perspective, it's rather annoying because it contradicts the idea that Thrax was based on Bacillus anthracis, a bacterial pathogen that is not contagious. However, this is a movie after all. Thrax is depicted as a virus and the movie does an amazing job at displaying a virus at work. At his appearance, when Thrax encounters a cell, he stabs it with his claw. Soon after that, the cell explodes. We can relate this to a virus injecting its DNA into a cell which explodes after the virus has made enough copies of itself. These copies will spread and infect more cells.
Waiting for an Opportunity
What is an opportunistic infection? It is an infection that does not normally infect a person unless it is given the opportunity to do so. Had Frank not eaten the egg that fell on the ground and taken care of himself, Thrax would not have had the opportunity to infect Frank. The movie displays other opportunistic pathogens. A gang of germs enjoys a sauna in the lymph nodes of Frank’s armpit. They have taken advantage of Frank’s poor hygiene (and the lack of deodorant!). There are also the pathogens that Thrax recruits at the zit. These pathogens plan to accompany Thrax and take advantage of Frank’s weakened immunity. We can relate Thrax to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html) weakens the immune system of the host, paving the way for other pathogens to infect the weakened host.
Hiding in the Shadows
It’s typical for a virus to hide before making a move and infecting its host. The body cells are usually unable to detect viruses and thus become infected unknowingly. This is known as the incubation period – when the virus infects cells and makes copies. Soon after entering Frank, Thrax causes a sore throat and runny nose. He does this to trick the white blood cells into thinking that Frank is down with a common cold. Later in the movie, Thrax hides himself in Frank’s ingrown toenail. Although the movie doesn’t show him making copies of himself (as it wouldn’t make sense for a movie to have so many antagonists), Thrax patiently waits and plans his next move, recruiting other pathogens as he goes along.
Burn Baby Burn!
One of Thrax's powers was the ability to burn. He sets a saliva boat on fire causing inflammation and redness in the throat. He also burns his hideout in the ingrown toenail. Here lies another flaw. While the movie depicts this as Thrax’s weapon, in reality, inflammation and redness is a defense mechanism of the immune system. Increased body temperatures (fevers) are used to kill pathogens but may also prove to be lethal for a person’s own body cells.
Thrax travels up to Frank’s hypothalamus, disrupting the balanced temperatures and causing a fever of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. At such high body temperatures, the body’s cells begin to die and major organ functions begin to fail. We see Frank being rushed to the hospital where he was in critical condition. Although there is no direct causal link between a virus and its host, the movie still manages to convince the audience how Thrax was ultimately responsible for Frank’s fever.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many of us have started paying more attention to our health. Just like Thrax, the Coronavirus compromises a person’s immunity allowing for other pathogens to cause infection. Osmosis Jones is a perfect example of this time. It not only educates us on how these infections can be dangerous but also how we can prevent them if we take better care of our health and hygiene.
Want to learn more about viruses and how they work? Check out the video below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FqlTslU22s&vl=en
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