Category: Health and Medicine

In a recently published review dedicated to the diagnostics of viral infections, a Russian research team featuring MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) researchers is the first to systematically describe and summarize the cutting-edge technologies available. A number of new effective methods of virus detection have been developed over the past few years, including those targeted at unknown pathogens. The authors described the so-called high-throughput next-generation sequencing as a potent new approach. The method promises to revolutionize the detection and analysis of new pathogenic viruses, but it will be at least several years until it is introduced into mainstream clinical practice.

“There are, by various statistical estimations, over 320,000 viruses that can infect mammals,’ explains MIPT’s Kamil Khafizov. “To date, less than 1% of this vast multitude has been studied.”

Most viruses, including those that cause respiratory, digestive, and other diseases in humans, remain unresearched and thus almost undetectable. The reason behind this is the narrow spectrum of viruses that the modern testing systems are designed to target.

‘Metaphorically, we are attempting to look at a vast sea of threats through the eye of a needle,’ the authors write in the review. Among other things, they explore the shortcomings of the polymerase chain reaction method. This essential technique for microorganism molecular testing fails to identify poorly explored viruses, and this constitutes one of the key problems in modern virology. There are, however, new methods that may potentially solve the issues of detecting and identifying new microorganisms. The authors describe next-generation sequencing as the most promising. Also known as high-throughput sequencing, it enables the analysis of multiple DNA molecules in parallel, be it a set of samples, different regions of the same genome, or both.

“Efficient mathematical algorithms are a key part of the method,” explains says MIPT grad student Alina Matsvay. “They allow researchers to compare the genome of an unknown virus against all available references of viral genomes, and predict all of its possible characteristics, including its pathogenic potential.”

Khafizov noted that the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the importance of next-generation sequencing methods for identifying new pathogens in clinical samples and studying the molecular mechanisms of virus transmission from animals to humans.

https://doi.org/10.3390/v12020211

Scientists in the UK are developing a new smart testing device for the coronavirus and now need backers to get the device manaufactured quickly and in large quantities.

The team from Brunel University London, Lancaster University and the University of Surrey reckon the can test for Covid-19 infection in half an hour. The device has already been successfully tested in The Philippines to check chickens for viral infection and the team has now adapted it to detect Covid-19 in people. The system is quick and easy to use, requires little training and could be used by healthcare workers and even lay people.

“Now we have access to multiple genomes (blueprint) of SARS-CoV-2 virus, we can develop reliable molecular assay in a week and have them up and running on the device in three or four weeks,’ explains Brunel’s Wamadeva Balachandran. “We are confident it will respond well, and we rapidly need industrial partners to come on board. It will have a huge impact on the population at large,” he adds.

The operator takes an oral or nasal swab, puts it into the device and connects to the smart phone app. Samples do not need to go to a laboratory and the same device can be used to test six samples simultaneously. The addition of telemedicine functionality will make the device even more useful. The idea is to try and make it cheaper than other tests so it can be used worldwide at home, in doctor’s surgeries, hospitals, and workplaces. Once the infection is identified, the intelligent system will track down all people who had close contact with the newly identified patient in the previous two weeks and alert them to the threat.

Source: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/uk-scientists-develop-new-rapid-smart-testing-device-for-coronavirus

I am receiving an inordinate number of personal messages on social media and emails asking about different aspects of Covid-19 and the coronavirus. Often the question will be about some email that has purportedly arrived from a friend of a friend in China or Italy or wherever and claiming all sorts of conspiratorial nonsense, proclaiming the end of civilisation, or pointing out how some miracle cure might be a miracle cure (it won’t be). Often recipients are told to urgently share the message with all their contacts.

Now, I am not medically trained, I cannot give medical advice. But, what I do know is that random notes of unknown original source about scientific and medical matters from non-scientist, non-medical friends are invariably BS, they were long before Covid-19 and will remain so long after it’s over and we’ve moved on to the next crisis.

Often the BS is sprinkled with truth glitter as a kind of camouflage, but the stinking turd beneath the shiny, thin veneer of sparkles is still unpolished, fake news, scam fodder, or somehow maliciously biased ordure. It may also just be common or garden bovine waste of the kind you might use to condition allotment soil to make your rhubarb grow thicker if there were not sufficient equine output available.

If you receive such a message, just delete it. It takes a simple swipe, tap or click and you can then forget about it. Please don’t share it. Please don’t email it to people you imagine might be able to remove the glitter and reveal some hidden truth.

If you have real concerns and questions about Covid-19 and the coronavirus that causes it, visit the websites of the NHS or the WHO and take note of their advice and guidance.

Stay well friends :-)

There is a lot of disinformation about Covid-19 (FAQ here) out there and it can be very disheartening to read the nonsense and conspiracy theories especially when they come from moronic world leaders.

Indeed, when the US president tweets that there is no problem and then a week later claims he knew it was a pandemic before anyone else it becomes very depressing watching this play out. His daily “fake news” tweets about what drugs might work are completely inappropriate from a pharmacological point of view. He mentioned one drug that would have no effect on a virus and then a drug combination that can actually cause heart failure and so is never used.

Additionally, some countries (the UK) are misguidedly opting for their own version of the WHO recommendations. This seems just as ludicrous especially when we were still seeing people huddled together in pubs until last Friday and teens on the street even today acting as if nothing has changed in the world.

It makes one wonder how we are ever going to get through this. I have pointed out elsewhere, with my purportedly scientific head-on, that as far as I understand it there are many significant obstacles to overcome yet. It is not yet known whether post-infection immunity for those who recover from the disease persists. Also, we have not found a way to make vaccines for other coronaviruses, so what are the chances with this one.

There is a glimmer of hope. Scientists have known about the possibility of an emergent pandemic for decades. I reviewed a book – Virus – for New Scientist back in the day (1997) that predicted the emergence of such a disease. We have seen some hints of such an outbreak that would engulf the world with SARS and MERS and others and we managed to overcome those. We have known about coronaviruses for decades and studied them in detail. We have known that some coronaviruses that infect bats could make the leap from bat to human without chicken or pig as an intermediary. One potentially lethal coronavirus was found in the Brazilian vampire bat in 2008, for instance. As such, we have been analysing them in detail and accumulating fundamental scientific knowledge.

That knowledge was never going to stop the emergence of a pandemic virus, but we can build on what we have learned in the last 20 to 30 years and ultimately find a way to overcome this disease.

Within minutes of writing this blog post, an update arrived on how the WHO is about to push fast-track megatrials of four contenders for drug combinations to beat the disease.

In the meantime, keep your distance and be vigilant of symptons.

Most of us will get through this together…apart.

Stay well

I posted a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) with answers regarding the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the potentially fatal Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease 201), now pandemic, back in late January. Things have moved on apace, social distancing, self-isolation, quarantine, lockdown are buzzwords we are hearing more and more as the virus spreads. Countries are closing borders, airlines are on the verge of failing, restaurants, bars, sports venues, and theatres are all operating behind closed doors, if at all.

I gave up updating the FAQ a while ago and linked to a better one where Sciencebase readers can get important current information, it’s at the top of the FAQ.

But, there is one FAQ that needs to be asked, at once, and I did, on Facebook:

So, all those hobbies that people scoffed at for years, which ones will you be taking up in your splendid isolation?

The answers have been rolling in, some people seemed to have assumed this wasn’t a flippant, light-hearted, almost facetious, mood-lightening, amusing question in the light of a global tragedy unfolding daily before our eyes, but hey, the literal web will survive us all. Anyway, here are a few of the interesting remarks that came back:

Chris РToday I have tried and failed: making papier-m̢ch̩ from toilet roll, distilling vodka, plane spotting, and Spanish conversation

Clive – I like plane spotting: rebate, jack, smoothing, block…

Mo – I think it’s time we played a few games of Risk

Robert – Hand washing

Mike – Hand wringing

Patrick – I’m making a map of the known universe and beyond out of pasta and toilet rolls. What else am I going to do with all of this stuff…no idea why I bought it all really

Nancy – A Seattle epidemiologist has given the thumbs-up to sex. Bonus points if it’s sex for one

Mark – Apparently, Italians have been given a free month’s subscription to a porn website

Dave – Nice to see that everyone’s pulling together in times of crisis

Stephen – I’ve been threatening for years to get the kids to cut the lawn with the kitchen scissors – I might just get around to seeing how long it would take to do…

Bill – Photographing the neighbours with my long lens. Oh, wait, did you mean NEW hobby?

Jorian – Writing up research notes on our family history for the survivors

Mark – Model trains are my thing!

Stephen (again) – Yeah the “kids” layout in the loft might get some attention too

Deborah (who is moving house) – I’m still packing

Sciencebase – I’ve just cut up some eggboxes to replace the sodden ones in the moth trap

Mandy – Not going to need a new spring wardrobe; reasons to be cheerful

When a new disease comes to light, AIDS, SARS, and most recently COVID-19, the health experts and the media bandy about words like epidemic and pandemic. Today, COVID-19 has been described as on the verge of becoming a global pandemic.

The word pandemic with relation to disease means affecting all the people. pan meaning all, demos meaning people or district, Greek pandemos. So medically, speaking we see it as either potentially affecting everyone or more usually affecting every possible region of the world, in the sense of a global pandemic.

An epidemic has a similar meaning, the epi means among, and the demos might refer to people or a district with people, so among the people of a given district. It is usually used to refer to an outbreak in a specific region or among a group of people, hence the word epidemiology, the study of epidemics, outbreaks of disease in a given area or among a group of people. There is also usually some implication of the rapid spread of a given disease in an epidemic.

In contrast, a disease that is endemic is usually confined to a specific geographical group of people or region. The en simply meaning in.

 

UPDATE: 2020-03-03: I’ve not had time to update the FAQ, so here’s a link to a more current one elsewhere that’s got answers to some of the bigger questions too.

UPDATE: 2020-02-24: A vaccine against COVID-19 is now being manufactured in Australia ready for lab tests.

UPDATE: 2020-02-18: WHO’s latest epidemiology: Over 80% of patients have mild COVID19 and will recover. In just 14% of cases, the virus leads to pneumonia. For one in 20 patients, it causes potentially fatal respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure.

UPDATE: 2020-02-11: The WHO has given the viral disease an official name, based on COronaVIrusDisease, hence COVID-19.

UPDATE: 2020-02-10: Scientists now suggesting that coronavirus source may be pangolins, which are used in Chinese “medicine”. Details here.

UPDATE: 2020-02-02: Death toll in China now more than 300, first death outside China (Philippines), although infection was in China.

BREXITDAY UPDATE: 2020-01-31: Two cases confirmed in the same family of coronavirus infection in the UK (BBC)

UPDATE: 2020-01-30: WHO  declares coronavirus international emergency, says we must stop its spread to vulnerable countries

UPDATE: 2020-01-28: 106 deaths reported in China so far. 4000 confirmed cases. Virus present in at least eleven other countries and regions. WHO yet to declare international health emergency

What is a coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals, including humans, and birds.

Why are they called coronaviruses?

The name derives from the fact that the viral capsule has a crown-like halo surrounding it, when viewed under the microscope.

What do coronaviruses do?

In humans, the virus infects the airways giving rise to flu-like symptoms, a runny nose, cough, sore throat and fever, these are usually mild, but in rare cases can be lethal.

Is there a vaccine against coronaviruses?

No.

Are there any drugs to block or treat infection?

No.

When were coronaviruses first discovered?

In the 1960s

Any details?

The first one discovered was an infectious bronchitis virus in chickens. At about the same time, two viruses from the nasal cavities of human patients with the common cold were identified and dubbed human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43.

So coronaviruses cause the common cold?

They are usually present when someone has a cold, so yes, pretty much.

Why are we so worried about them?

Some coronaviruses cause serious respiratory tract infection that is far worse than the usual symptoms of the common cold. In the elderly, infants, people with compromised lung function (such as asthma patients, COPD sufferers, people with lung cancer), an infection can ultimately be fatal, often through the development of pneumonia.

Is the Wuhan coronavirus a dangerous form?

It has infected several hundred people that we know about so far and there have been a couple of dozen deaths, mainly among vulnerable people infected with the virus. The World Health Organisation is not yet endowing this virus with the same worrying global status of earlier epidemics. It may yet be contained and fatalities limited significantly. Nevertheless, China has quarantined 20 million people already. Wuhan is a city the size of London, England.

Where did this virus come from?

At the end of 2019, a new strain of coronavirus, scientists named 2019-nCoV, was first reported in Wuhan. It is by definition an “emergent” strain of the virus and is thought to have made the species leap from infected animals to humans, probably in an environment where diseases animals are in close proximity to people, such as a live-produce market.

Where is the virus going?

Already, there have been many cases outside Wuhan and China is locking down public transport. Air travel has allowed the virus to spread to Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere, and it has already reached the USA.

How long do symptoms take to emerge?

Up to fourteen days. This makes it difficult to screen people because they may be infected and travelling with the virus without displaying a fever or other symptoms.

Will I catch it?

You are only likely to catch the virus if you have travelled to places where it is obviously present or if you have come into contact with people who have visited those areas. If you have and you think you have symptoms, stay at home, call your physician or local healthcare provider for advice. Do not go to the emergency hospital or your doctor’s surgery, you could end up spreading the virus to others who have other health problems.

Will they check me over at the airport?

Several US airports and other places have introduced screening of passengers arriving from Wuhan. If the disease spreads widely, screening is likely to be introduced at many other airports. Basic screening might involve measuring the temperature of travellers’ foreheads non-invasively to spot those with a fever.

Is it infectious before symptoms appear?

Yes, unfortunately, it seems that the virus can spread between people during its incubation period(up to two weeks) before they present with any symptoms, such as high temperature. Temperature screening would not find asymptomatic carriers, this means an epidemic could become a reality once a critical infection rate is passed even before we realise how many people have caught the virus. Many colds and influenza viruses are infectious even before symptoms appear.

What’s the latest news on this coronavirus?

2020-01-25: 22 Chinese provinces affected; billion+ people. 56 million people banned from travelling at epicentre of viral outbreak, Hubei. 41 dead, 1200+ infected, 237 critical.

Should we be panicking?

Scaremongering and sensationalist headlines abound, they’re usually wrong, but conversely, the voice of reason urging us to stay calm may well be wrong too. UCL virologist Jennifer Rohn has this to say: “…we need to treat any unknown emerging disease as if it has the potential to be a massive and devastating pandemic — because despite preliminary assessments of the rate of spread and how many people have died, the jury is still very much out.”

So, how do we cope?

Quoting Dr Rohn again: “We’ll never know when the ‘big one’ has arrived until it’s already too late. So let’s deal with each outbreak as if it could be our last.” Unfortunately, no nation is ready, unfortunately, the US has cut funding in the face of preparedness for such an outbreak that might kill millions worldwide, as earlier epidemics have done.

Should I wear a facemask?

Feel free, but the cheap ones won’t offer much protection as they don’t seal around your mouth and nose well. They will to some extent limit the degree to which you might spread infection if you are a carrier by trapping your nasal and oral fluids. Proper surgical masks are sealed, but uncomfortable to wear and harder to breathe and talk through.

Facemasks might reduce the spread of infection in enclosed spaces, such as public transport and in live-produce markets where infection may be present and animals are being slaughtered in public. But, they unnecessary in the open air where infections are not readily transmitted between people. Shoes tramping through spilled matter in a market are a more likely vector for viruses.

Most “airborne” viral infections are actually passed on through so-called fomites. Bodily fluids that land on door handles via coughs and sneezes or from an infected person’s hands where they have wiped their nose or coughed into their hand and the contaminated a surface are a much more efficient route for transmission of an infection. More about facemasks in the face of emergent pathogens here.

You can read a more detailed and technical FAQ on the coronavirus in Popular Mechanics.