News Worldwide impact of the novel coronavirus (covid-19)

[siniang]

This may make a vaccine more of a challenge: Coronavirus: How scientists are tracking 8 strains of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Sometimes the shock of the situation hits me all over again. 8 strains basically means we are in for a long haul situation.

Not sure if helpful, but from the same article :)

COVID-19 hits people differently, with some feeling only slightly under the weather for a day, others flat on their backs sick for two weeks and about 15% hospitalized. Currently, an estimated 1% of those infected die. The rate varies greatly by country and experts say it is likely tied to testing rates rather than actual mortality.

Chiu says it appears unlikely the differences are related to people being infected with different strains of the virus.

“The current virus strains are still fundamentally very similar to each other,” he said.

The COVID-19 virus does not mutate very fast. It does so eight to 10 times more slowly than the influenza virus

It’s also not expected to spontaneously evolve into a form more deadly than it already is to humans. The SARS-CoV-2 is so good at transmitting itself between human hosts, said Andersen, it is under no evolutionary pressure to evolve.

All these are positive things.

Viral genomics is incredibly complex and hard to understand for non-experts, because viruses as a whole are freaking complex and ....weird (and cool... please forgive my scientific nerdiness for a moment :bag:)

I’m no microbiologist nor geneticist, so only understand the basics.

I may be completely wrong but I think @bellbird has better understanding of genetics/microbiology?

 

[bellbird]

Thanks, @siniang , I do study genetics, though unfortunately not viral genetics specifically (that would be rather useful at this time!)

I think you've done a great job of summing up the basics, though.

These three points:

“The current virus strains are still fundamentally very similar to each other,” he said.

The COVID-19 virus does not mutate very fast. It does so eight to 10 times more slowly than the influenza virus

It’s also not expected to spontaneously evolve into a form more deadly than it already is to humans.

are really important, and I think a good thing to focus on in all of this.

The fact that there are 8 strains of SARS-CoV-2 honestly doesn't surprise me.

Evolution seems to be an inherent characteristic of life.
The biological "machinery" that replicates genetic material (human/virus/basicallyeverything) makes mistakes.
Certain types of virus lack a proofreading mechanism, that means a lot more of those mistakes make it through (and is the reason why researchers have to work their asses off every year to develop a new flu vaccine because the damn influenza virus keeps evolving).

Vaccines are basically a way of priming your body to a particular biological challenge.
By introducing a weakened form of the pathogen (less-virulent or inactivated or just a subunit of the pathogen), it primes your body, without giving you the full-blown disease, so that when the actual pathogen comes along, your body goes "aha! we know this one!" and it already has the defenses ready to go.

Having multiple strains of SARS-CoV-2 is frustrating in the sense that researchers will need to be more, hmm, "picky" in terms of what they use in a vaccine.
Because ideally, we'll just have a single vaccine for this to make the eradication of this disease more effective.
But as there are currently 8 strains, researchers can't just use a less-virulent form of one of the strains as a vaccine because that won't necessarily prime our body's defenses for the other 7 strains should we catch one of those.

The really good thing is that these 8 strains are still mostly the same as one another, in terms of their genomes.
A little more detail from that usatoday article:

Its genome is made up of about 30,000 base pairs. Humans, by comparison, have more than 3 billion. So far even in the virus's most divergent strains scientists have found only 11 base pair changes.

So it comes down to a matter of developing a vaccine that harnesses a commonality of all SARS-CoV-2 strains, to make it effective against all of them.

And we can be very glad it doesn't evolve as rapidly as the flu virus :)
Lots of positives.

 

[siniang]

Thanks @bellbird (my viral genetics is reeeaaaally rusty, but obviously general understanding of genetics/evolution still there as an ecologist :)

That part I totally forgot to highlight, because super important.

The really good thing is that these 8 strains are still mostly the same as one another, in terms of their genomes.
A little more detail from that usatoday article:

Its genome is made up of about 30,000 base pairs. Humans, by comparison, have more than 3 billion. So far even in the virus's most divergent strains scientists have found only 11 base pair changes.

So it comes down to a matter of developing a vaccine that harnesses a commonality of all SARS-CoV-2 strains, to make it effective against all of them.

Because the things is. In the microbial and viral world, "genetic difference" doesn't necessarily translate into "significant biological difference" as we've gotten used to with most animals and plants. The way how bacterial "species" are defined constantly boggles my mind. That would never fly in the say mammal world. With viruses....even more complex because...well....they aren't even living things.

A difference of 11 BPs? Really not thaaaaaaaat much, all things considered. Which explains why while yes, we genetically can identify 8+ different strains, they're not exactly all that different in terms of how they act -- and react to potential medicines, and maybe even vaccines that doesn't use one particular strain for immunization (bellbird....correct me....couldn't you "just" use a vaccine that has all or a subset of the most variable strains?)

Sorry guys ^^" The science behind all this has me really intrigued.

 

[bellbird]

couldn't you just use a vaccine that has all or a subset of the most variable strains?

I don't think that it's that simple.

Partly because it's possible that the strains we have characterised so far don't encompass the most variable strains that are out there.

And partly because the purpose of a vaccine is to prepare our bodies for a particular challenge (which is why live attenuated (less-virulent) vaccines are so effective because they're the closest thing to reality), but in reality you wouldn't be getting 8, or however many, strains at once.

 

[siniang]

That was obviously a waaaay simplified train of thought regarding vaccines :laugh: obviously it’s not thaaat easy.

But considering they’re all still very similar, maybe approach that identifies commonality among them.

We’ll see. Frankly, while not next month or the month after, I’m quite hopeful we’re gonna see meds and maybe even a vaccine. Because compared to other virues that are harmful to humans (thinking HIV for example), coronaviruses are “fairly” simple, comparatively.

And one thing’s for sure, it’s bringing the scientific world together for once. I love how currently folks don’t care about peer-review and impact factors and make their research publicly available for others to use or pick up. One big think tank. Considering how competitive the scientific world and how profit-oriented the pharmaceutical world are, this is a nice change

 

[Mach123]

Yeah, I was ensuring to not speed anywhere yesterday and today to and from work as I was SOOOOO certian cops would be everywhere. Saw none yesterday to or from work. So, thought the order just went into place, maybe tomorrow. Today, nadda. No cops anywhere. Where are the cops to enforce these lock downs and laws that they are putting in?

I had a call (Florida account) that had a burglary today. I am sure there is a lot of that and I am sure cops are tied up with that sort of stuff but ALL of them?

I've seen the local. cops in my.town but big picture I'm still think military. I have no reason to think that except IDK what else to think? I do wish they'd close my town to virus tourism which is going on due to the lockdown. You should be able to go to grocery or doctor or whatever but not come here because you want to go walking? I have to stay home. I'm trying to stay reasonable but come on people. I might call the cops about it I'm curious? My town is full of professional complainers. I want to see if everyone is complaining about it or just me. We have a natural immunity based on isolation. I'd like to be taking advantage of it .

This is the same feelings I have about the dog walkers letting dangerous animals off the leash. I want to scream, which means I should probably try and look the other way.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

On the other hand, I went to see my T today.

Awww! I'm sad! My therapist started video to video (which ended with just a phone call) this last session and I so miss seeing him in person! Get so much out of our relationship and our interactions in person. I so miss that!

Our apartment building has a no visitor rule, period.

That's smart!

My idiot next door neighbor has guests over tonight. :O_o::banghead:

Welcome to my life. That is happening all over the apartment complex. At least one in each building. People are bored, I get it but this isn't smart....at all right now! It's frustrating to watch.

I really hope this social distancing order that goes into effect tomorrow deters this stuff and stops it or at least slows it.

ETA: I saw on the news the other day that Lupus sufferers are seeing a massive shortage as their drug is being tested for Covid-19. As we pray for a treatment, we need to think of those using these drugs currently and keep them in our thoughts (in my humble opinion anyway). As far as the news station was stating, there is no other treatment drug for Lupus?

 

[ms spock]

Dead Link Removed

 

[Deanna]

The World Could Be Running Out of Condoms Because of Pandemic

 

[Friday]

So it comes down to a matter of developing a vaccine that harnesses a commonality of all SARS-CoV-2 strains, to make it effective against all of them.

Assuming we don’t already possess that antibody.

I’ve been periodically scouring scientific sources, and haven’t found that info, yet. Which is concerning. Because it’s the number 1 reason people are usually reinfected... as opposed to getting infected by a different strain... we already make an antibody to it, but the “key” is a weak fit.

That’s the problem with an HIV vaccine. The entire human race is already “immune” to HIV. Meaning we already manufacture the antibody for it. And when we get infected with HIV our immune system goes into production, manufactures that antibody, which attaches to HIV... and then the antibody falls out. Because the “key” is too small for the “lock”. Leaving the virus free to wreak havoc. Scientists have been trying for decades to find something different enough from our existing antibodies to convince our immune systems to make whole new keys/antibodies, that’s similar enough to HIV to actually attach to the virus.

Most viruses? We can get a vaccine into production in weeks. Happens every year. That’s how we get a new flu shot. That scientists are projecting 12-18mo? Is HOPEFUL... because it means that it’s probably not as Scientifically brick wall bang head as HIV, but also concerning as hell. Because it “shouldn’t” take that long.

Virtually all flus start in China (region, not politics, include Eastern India to Thailand to Vietnam. Whole of SE Asia... but the population in China is a perfect Petrie dish wherever the virus starts). The infrastructure is THERE, in SE Asia, for epidemiologists to test the hundreds of strains that pop into existence every year, find the most virulent, and make an educated guess as to which are going to head west. When things like HIN1 pop into existence in other parts of the world? Epidemiologists FREAK, because now we have to move the entire system halfway around the world, and we don’t have the parts in play to stay ahead of the wave. But it still only takes a few weeks to engineer what we need, it’s production and distribution that’s going to be a motherf*cker. 12-18mo, and people being reinfected? With the exact same strain? Is deeply concerning. Hopeful, but deeply concerning.

 

[Muttly]

I'm loving all the science talk :) Brings me back to my biology classes

@Mach123 I live in a small town but we have many hiking trails. People are coming here to hike. They closed the trails. Someone tore down the "closed" sign at one of the trails. Lots of cars on the side of the street since the gate to the parking lot was closed. Bah

 

[Friday]

They closed the trails. Someone tore down the "closed" sign at one of the trails.

A more effective sign would be

“We don’t have Rangers or Search&Rescue or Medievac. Hike at own risk. No one is coming to get you.”

:sneaky: