Here is some more medical and research news about the Coronavirus. Ever since the COVID-19 disease exploded in China in January of this year and spread to the rest of the world, research into sequencing the gene of the virus, analyzing data from China and other countries, and development of vaccines and treatments has been progressing at an unprecedented speed, aided by modern technology and worldwide collaboration.
Here is a summary of some of the latest news -
- Recovered patients do have immune antibodies against SARS-CoV-2; uncertain for how long (months or years)
- Corovirus infection can take place through eyes
- Corovirus can survive in aerosols for up to 3 hours.
- Children do get infected although the rate is low
- Young people do get infected as shown by data from S. Korea
- People without symptoms are driving the spread of the virus (we sort of knew that, but government and the media needs to get the word out).
- Death rates and serious illness are a function of age (as we know) and pre-existing health conditions; hypertension, heart disease and diabetes are major culprits. These diseases are present in adults under 60 too, so we cannot get too complacent.
- Coronavirus is much more deadly than the flu
- Moderna’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is being ‘fast-tracked’ to enter human clinical trials before animal testing is complete. The first human was injected with the vaccine today.
- Lots of other existing drugs are being tested, new ones and vaccines are being developed, although they will take time
- The UK dropped the crazy idea of letting everyone get infected to build herd-immunity
- Testing in the U.S. is ramping up
- Cities across the nation are banning events, gatherings in bars, restaurants, gyms, …
- International cooperation continues to flourish.
Note that there is lot more research going on than what is shown in this small list; this is just a summary of some of the latest findings and activities. This diary is not a compendium of all we know about the virus or how we should prepare for it; please visit the www.cdc.gov/… site for such information.
1. Recovered patients do produce immune antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (as is the the case with other viruses) -
2. Corovirus infection can take place through eyes -
3. SARS-CoV-2 can survive in aerosols for up to 3 hours. And longer on other surfaces. However, the greatest chances of infection occur from aerosols coughed out by infected patients and by touching facial mucous areas with infected fingers. This study was performed in a lab at 21-23oC and 65% relative humidity.
4. Coronavirus does infect children, although the rate is low.
5. S. Korea data shows that young people are getting infected because testing is much more widespread there. In the bar graph below, red is S. Korea, green is Italy.
6. People without symptoms are (very likely) driving the spread of the virus
This paper comes to that conclusions based on modeling techniques -
The cnn article below has links to a large number of studies supporting this finding.
This means that you and I may be infected and unknowingly spreading the disease.
7. Death rates increase among those with preexisting health conditions. And health problems increase with (middle and old) age. It is not just smoking; hypertension, heart disease and diabetes are key risk factors. These chronic diseases are present in adults under 60 too, so we cannot get too complacent.
41% of U.S adults have a higher risk of serious illness. We are not a healthy nation.
8. Coronavirus has 5-10 times higher fatality rate than seasonal flu, across all adult age groups.
9. Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine is being ‘fast-tracked’, testing in humans to begin soon, before animal testing is completed. Do keep in mind, that it will still take several months for clinical trials to be completed and vaccines to be produced in sufficient quantities, probably 12-18 months.
And now we have the first human to be injected with the new vaccine, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle. The open-label trial will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks.
10. A bunch of existing drugs are been tested in China, S. Korea, Italy and in the U.S. The anti-viral drug Remdesivir frequently appears in the news.
Convalascent serum (plasma) therapy — We wrote about convalascent serum (plasma) therapy yesterday. The group at Johns Hopkins was working over the weekend with scientists around the country to prepare for it.
11. Thank heavens the UK dropped the crazy idea of letting everyone get infected to build up herd-immunity.
12. Testing in the U.S is ramping up -
Roche’s new testing platform got “emergency use authorization” from the FDA. The Roche cobas 8800 system is capable of testing 4,128 patients a day, which is 10 times what is typically done today in the U.S. The 6800 model can test as many as 1,440. The tests analyze nucleic acids extracted from patients’ saliva or mucus, and compare them against sequences found in SARS-CoV-2. Note that shortage of kits and reagents will limit the number of tests that can be done.
Also see www.bloomberg.com/…
Total number of tests has ramped up a bit, mainly in WA and CA.
Drive-thru Mobile testing centers are finally popping up -
13. Many states have banned large gatherings and closed down schools, theaters, bars, restaurant and gyms.
14. China is sending help to Italy -
And to the U.S. -
Epilogue
We can see that a lot of R&D and analysis is being done at breakneck speed by many different organizations and dedicated teams of scientists and health professionals. We can hope that one or more of the treatments (drugs) will become viable and widely available within a few months although vaccines will take longer 12-18 months. And let’s not forget those on the front lines who are working in extremely stressful conditions, taking care of patients, trying out new unproven drugs and treatments and providing vital information to guide research.
Many of the measures being taken in the U.S. are definitely positive, but they are not being done uniformly on a nation-wide basis and lot more needs to be done, no thanks to the take-no-responsibility White House.
So, let’s do our part. Let’s take all the precautionary measures that have been recommended many times — practice social distancing, work from home, wash hands, avoid touching our faces, avoid infecting others, avoid large gatherings. All this needs to be done by everyone, not a random few. We need to shut down all public gatherings for a few weeks to slow down the spread of the virus enough to allow hospitals and healthcare workers to handle the case load that will emerge. All this should have been done 8 weeks ago, when the epidemic in Wuhan was peaking; instead the world (and the USA in particular) dropped the ball on this one and everyone will pay the price.
Stay calm and stay strong.
Further Reading
- Some Novel Coronavirus Treatments in the Pipeline - Antibody Harvesting and Plant Based Vaccines — www.dailykos.com/…
- Coronavirus - Some more research findings and advice about the virus — www.dailykos.com/...
- Coronavirus - Data from Italy and Implications for US — www.dailykos.com/…
- Coronovirus Vaccines and Treatments under Development — www.dailykos.com/…
- Coronavirus Control - Novel High Tech. Solutions or Mass Surveillance? — www.dailykos.com/…
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) — www.cdc.gov/...