The picture we have of viruses and their significance for human beings and nature has fundamentally changed in the last two decades but with hardly any of this more widely known … Viruses are the oldest, the most common and the most broadly distributed organic structures that evolution has ever created. Viruses basically are the most ancient building blocks of life; without this knowledge we will not be able to understand their role and the part they play in the course of illness. T. Hardtmuth…….

Dr Thomas Hardtmuth tackles the many issues of the Covid-19 Corona pandemic. He proceeds from the premise that we first need a thorough understanding of the significance of viruses not just as a cause of illnesses but as a medium, under the right conditions, for building and maintaining health, as a carrier and changer of genetic information in the service of evolution. Still prevalent is the view that all viruses are enemies to be fought, consigning ourselves as in this epidemic to battleground stations, with all that that entails. Governments have described it as a war…..

The newest research and understanding, though, is leading to very different conclusions. The prevalent view of a virus attacking us and making us ill, laying the blame fully on the virus, is outdated. Its effect depends on the situation and most importantly the ‘host’, ie the person - it is not a simple question of cause and effect - or dots on a computer chart touching each other and ‘causing infection’, as computer modelling tends to be done…..

This book delves in more detail into related subjects, in an easily readable language. These themes include the PCR tests and the so-called Ct (or amplification) values; the psychology of fear and power; the inner-outer relationship between human health and environmental health; and the effects of fear as well as other factors on the immune system. In addition, he introduces the subject of alternative therapies and the controversial theme of benefits and risks of vaccination, in general and with regard to the current Covid vaccines. On the latter he details in comprehensible form the processes both by which the different types of vaccines have been produced as well as the different mechanisms by which they affect human cells and immune systems. He goes on to consider the testing processes in production which were significantly shortened for Covid vaccines, the potential risks, and the immunological responses in the organism through vaccines in comparison to responses arising naturally through actual infections - how they are not the same. This leads into a comprehensive survey of the functioning of the human immune system…..

In all the sections, the effort is made to explore the issues from a broad, open-minded and holistic perspective, showing how this approach has an important significance also for the details of the Covid pandemic and the various measures being taken. It is written in an easily readable language….. The emphasis: with a comprehensive knowledge incorporating unbiased views of health and human illness, without fears or political pressures, we will be in a better position for discussion on policies as well as for responsible individual choices.