Episode Details

Virus secrets, some known unknowns https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/26/covid-questions-variants-long-covid/?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh 6.5 million deaths, 16% in the US Researchers, more than 200,000 studies Four times the number on influenza in the 100 years Where did the virus come from, and why has it been so successful? Vincent Munster, virus ecology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases We’ve now identified 20 or 30 of these viruses that all look very similar, but they are not the same. What is the true hideout place of the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a lab Virus evolved in nature and was being studied Virus was created in the lab by researchers How does it mutates so rapidly? (proofreading systems) Immune compromised people Reverse zoonosis https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.22.481551v1.full Virus found in 29 other animals so far Mink, hamsters, mice, white-tailed deer, cats, dogs, ferrets, lions, tigers, snow leopards, otters, non-human primates, hyenas, hippopotamuses, and manatees. mule deer, a black-tailed marmoset, a giant anteater Massively variable clinical picture? Why are older people effected more and children and the young protected? Why is it better to be 1 than 50? 1918 flu pandemic Highest mortality rates, children 5 and under, adults 20 to 40, 65 and older 1957 flu pandemic, Increases in the mortality rate relative to baseline https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4747626/ Greatest in school-aged children, young adults, elderly population Something to do with mucosal immunity and interferons? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04345-x Genetic variation Association Between the LZTFL1 rs11385942 Polymorphism and COVID-19 Severity in Colombian Population https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35795626/ Genetic and non-genetic factors are responsible for the high interindividual variability in the response to SARS-CoV-2. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9891785 Content that claims that any group or individual has immunity to the virus or cannot transmit the virus Why do some people develop long covid? Why does covid severity differ by age and from one person to another? Self-reported long COVID more common https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/infections aged 35 to 69 years females people living in more deprived areas those working in social care people not looking for work (less common in people looking for work) another activity-limiting health condition or disability    As time goes by Bill Powderly, Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. The virus is becoming more infectious but less dangerous for the majority of people But we’ve no guarantee that the virus wouldn’t develop additional mutations that would eventually make it more virulent in the future

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