The biology of coronavirus COVID-19 - including research and treatments

Yea what we really need is insight like: 90% get coronavirus through close contact (via droplets in the air) i.e. in enclosed spaces and not wearing a mask ---- 1% get it through contact with a surface on which the virus has survived 24 hours +

All fictitious of course, but I'm not sure whether there are realistic ways to assess the % of people acquiring the virus through specific routes --- grateful to be corrected though.

 

It seems that Science4ME members can apply for tickets, should you wish to:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professor-stephen-holgate-distinguished-lecture-tickets-120496495261

Trish, I have emailed the question that you suggested to the event organisers and their response was to send the link.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1316471813967355904

 

I've seen suggestions to this effect before, but:

People with blood type O may have lower risk of Covid-19 infection and severe illness, studies suggest

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsl...es-suggest/ar-BB1a2JGS?li=AAnZ9Ug&ocid=ASUDHP

I'm not sure how statistically significant the numbers are, but am I right in thinking that non-O blood groups tend to be more prevalent in people of BAME origin?

 

Interesting! Here’s a useful explanation of blood groups: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/blood-groups/

Edit to add - I’m not sure the differences are great enough to draw this conclusion though!

 

A problem with Covid testing that I've never seen mentioned before ...

Title : A Covid-19 Nasal Swab Test Punctured Woman's Brain Lining and Leaked Brain Fluid From Her Nose

Link : https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/a-...leaked-brain-fluid-from-her-nose-2927009.html

The woman had a history of intracranial hypertension.

 

SARS-CoV-2 infects the brain choroid plexus and disrupts the blood-CSF-barrier in human brain organoids

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(20)30495-1

 

Professor Holgate spoke briefly tonight in the Southampton University Distinguished Lecture about the similarities between long COVID and ME/CFS.

In answer to the question that you put, Trish, Stephen Holgate said that the ME community is a neglected one, with the existence of the illness often being denied. He thinks that COVID will put a spotlight on post viral illness, leading to an understanding of the seriousness of the illness, and that it is an exciting time for the ME community. There is a lot to learn from us.

A link to a recording of the lecture is to come.

 

Prof Holgate also said something along the lines re ME "there is almost a denial in medical circles of its existence, let alone how serious it is".
He was very pleased to be asked this question "as he has spent the last 7? years working on ME, that it is a very exciting time for the ME community...there are lessons to be learnt"

As a Southampton alumnus I heard about this early. Were you at Southampton @Frankie, or is it just your nearest Uni?

 

Here is an article from the university of British Columbia (UBC) about a clinical trial for COVID

Drawing closer to COVID-19 treatment breakthrough

Link to article

 

Hello MEMarge. Yes, I was at Southampton Uni as a mature student from 1985 to 1988. I wonder if we overlapped?

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1316890380240101382

Dr Strain who has a CFS clinic in Exeter mentions “chronic fatigue” towards the end.

 

This sounds very exciting: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-10-1...elop-extremely-rapid-diagnostic-test-covid-19

But:

 

Remdesivir has 'no meaningful impact' on COVID-19 survival, huge study finds

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/med...tudy-finds/ar-BB1a6un2?li=AAnZ9Ug&ocid=ASUDHP

Admittedly, not yet peer-reviewed, but still:

 

I finished in 1980, so no. I had such a great time there and really enjoyed studying Physiology and Biochemistry.

 

Title : Covid-19 Vaccine Protocols Reveal That Trials Are Designed To Succeed

Link : https://www.forbes.com/sites/willia...s-reveal-that-trials-are-designed-to-succeed/

If this article is true then having a covid vaccine is unlikely to prevent people getting the disease, it will allegedly, at best, just reduce the severity of symptoms. So, Covid-19 has brought in an entirely new definition of what a vaccine is intended to achieve. So, start expecting more of these useless vaccines that we will all be expected to have in future, whether we like it or not.

 

I think this point is overblown. Most vaccines are not "sterile" immunisations - they do not completely prevent infection, yet we are able to prevent spread all the same, since the infection is significantly limited.
Lots of people are talking shit about "mucosal immunity" without understanding what that is. IgG is found in the respiratory mucosa, and several vaccines have shown IgA antibodies, so the claims that there will not be any "mucosal immunity" from intramuscular injection method of administration are not evidence-based.

Fact is, that if the vaccine can significantly reduce symptoms, it will reduce spread due to lowering the number of days which an individual has high enough viral load to infect others.

 

But not me.

I use as my yardstick the vaccinations I got as a child or young adult. I don't hear of outbreaks of (for example) diphtheria and whooping cough in the UK, and I was vaccinated against those.

Before Covid-19 the fastest development of a vaccine from beginning to end was the one created to prevent mumps, and that took four years.

I am not an anti-vaxxer. But my hackles have been raised by several things about any possible Covid-19 vaccination.

1) It's apparently going to be tested on the elderly - the frailest possible group.

2) I have never been happy about the fact that pharmaceutical companies are no longer held liable for their mistakes in connection with vaccines. I want the general population to have some kind of leverage to keep pharma companies honest.

3) Any Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered without any knowledge of possible long term effects.

4) Covid-19 is a coronavirus. There are, as yet, no vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections. So, my trust in any Covid-19 vaccine is limited by that.

 

Wow! That particular idea had passed me by!