COVID-19

[joeactor]

Here's a somewhat US-centered article about how Covid-19 spreads (with a lot of guesswork in it):
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections.

[Randy]

They were given gloves.

I overlooked that. So his son touched his hand without them. That's strange.

[Magdalena]

They were given gloves.

I overlooked that. So his son touched his hand without them. That's strange.

I don't see where it says that he took the gloves off. 

[Dark Lightning]

I'm of a mind that the family lived with him during the time when he was infected but asymptomatic. That makes the most sense, and obviates the whole gowning process in the ICU, IMO.

[Randy]

They were given gloves.

I overlooked that. So his son touched his hand without them. That's strange.

I don't see where it says that he took the gloves off. 

You're right. It was never specified that he did. I just took that he held his father's hand while praying and sixteen days later he was buried with his father. It seems, and I am going to guess a lot of readers will see it this way, that he got infected there.

Again though, you're right. It isn't specified that he took them off. My imagery of what transpired is incomplete. I should have thought this one through a lot more before posting.

[Recusant]

Here's a somewhat US-centered article about how Covid-19 spreads (with a lot of guesswork in it):
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections.

I think that's rather good. Hard for me to find fault in it, anyway, despite the somewhat US-centric approach that you mentioned.

* * *

A look at how coronaviruses coexist with bats and vise versa.

"Bat 'super immunity' may explain how bats carry coronaviruses, study finds" | ScienceDaily

A University of Saskatchewan (USask) research team has uncovered how bats can carry the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus without getting sick -- research that could shed light on how coronaviruses make the jump to humans and other animals.

Coronaviruses such as MERS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and more recently the COVID19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, are thought to have originated in bats. While these viruses can cause serious and often fatal disease in people, for reasons not previously well understood, bats seem unharmed.

"The bats don't get rid of the virus and yet don't get sick. We wanted to understand why the MERS virus doesn't shut down the bat immune responses as it does in humans," said USask microbiologist Vikram Misra.

In research just published in Scientific Reports, the team has demonstrated for the first time that cells from an insect-eating brown bat can be persistently infected with MERS coronavirus for months, due to important adaptations from both the bat and the virus working together.

"Instead of killing bat cells as the virus does with human cells, the MERS coronavirus enters a long-term relationship with the host, maintained by the bat's unique 'super' immune system," said Misra, corresponding author on the paper. "SARS-CoV-2 is thought to operate in the same way."

Misra says the team's work suggests that stresses on bats -- such as wet markets, other diseases, and possibly habitat loss -- may have a role in coronavirus spilling over to other species.

"When a bat experiences stress to their immune system, it disrupts this immune system-virus balance and allows the virus to multiply," he said.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open-access:

"Selection of viral variants during persistent infection of insectivorous bat cells with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus" | Scientific Reports

Abstract

[Paragraph breaks added.]

Coronaviruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) are speculated to have originated in bats.

The mechanisms by which these viruses are maintained in individuals or populations of reservoir bats remain an enigma. Mathematical models have predicted long-term persistent infection with low levels of periodic shedding as a likely route for virus maintenance and spillover from bats.

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that bat cells and MERS coronavirus (CoV) can co-exist in vitro. To test our hypothesis, we established a long-term coronavirus infection model of bat cells that are persistently infected with MERS-CoV. We infected cells from Eptesicus fuscus with MERS-CoV and maintained them in culture for at least 126 days. We characterized the persistently infected cells by detecting virus particles, protein and transcripts.

Basal levels of type I interferon in the long-term infected bat cells were higher, relative to uninfected cells, and disrupting the interferon response in persistently infected bat cells increased virus replication. By sequencing the whole genome of MERS-CoV from persistently infected bat cells, we identified that bat cells repeatedly selected for viral variants that contained mutations in the viral open reading frame 5 (ORF5) protein. Furthermore, bat cells that were persistently infected with ΔORF5 MERS-CoV were resistant to superinfection by wildtype virus, likely due to reduced levels of the virus receptor, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) and higher basal levels of interferon in these cells.

In summary, our study provides evidence for a model of coronavirus persistence in bats, along with the establishment of a unique persistently infected cell culture model to study MERS-CoV-bat interactions.

[Magdalena]

They were given gloves.

I overlooked that. So his son touched his hand without them. That's strange.

I don't see where it says that he took the gloves off. 

You're right. It was never specified that he did. I just took that he held his father's hand while praying and sixteen days later he was buried with his father. It seems, and I am going to guess a lot of readers will see it this way, that he got infected there.

Again though, you're right. It isn't specified that he took them off. My imagery of what transpired is incomplete. I should have thought this one through a lot more before posting.

I agree with you, the story doesn't specify where or how the kid got infected. DL could be right:

I'm of a mind that the family lived with him during the time when he was infected but asymptomatic. That makes the most sense, and obviates the whole gowning process in the ICU, IMO.

[joeactor]

My latest blog is about the virus' view of us:
https://www.joesdump.com/2020/05/20/virus-newspaper/

[Randy]

It reads like a propaganda machine of sorts or a general sending a letter out to the troops.

I found this interesting "Almost forty percent do not even believe in our existence." I knew there were plenty but this with this many it is no wonder we have the plague we do now.

[joeactor]

It reads like a propaganda machine of sorts or a general sending a letter out to the troops.

I found this interesting "Almost forty percent do not even believe in our existence." I knew there were plenty but this with this many it is no wonder we have the plague we do now.

I wrote it for my Spanish homework, but, yeah... the 40% thing may not be accurate. Bet it's higher 

[Magdalena]

My latest blog is about the virus' view of us:
https://www.joesdump.com/2020/05/20/virus-newspaper/

Amazing Spanish, joeactor!
Wow! Accents and everything.

[Tank]

The WHO has stated that world wide the number of daily new cases has passed 100,000 for the first time.

https://covid19.who.int/

[Randy]

That's quite a lot! It's scary.

I just read this this morning: "A study has estimated there may have been 36,000 fewer coronavirus-related deaths had the US entered lockdown a week earlier in March."

I'm reading on it now but somehow it doesn't surprise me. I've often thought we started the lock down a little late.

Here's the news link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52757150

[joeactor]

My latest blog is about the virus' view of us:
https://www.joesdump.com/2020/05/20/virus-newspaper/

Amazing Spanish, joeactor!
Wow! Accents and everything.

Thanks Mags! My teacher helped me correct some of it, but thought it was a funny take on the topic.

Meanwhile, lots of idiots abound in the US of A...

[Recusant]

A good look at the issues behind the retracted Lancet paper on hydroxychloroquine and its effectiveness in treating COVID-19.

"Who's to blame? These three scientists are at the heart of the Surgisphere COVID-19 scandal" | Science

Three unlikely collaborators are at the heart of the fast-moving COVID-19 research scandal, which led to retractions last week by The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the withdrawal of an online preprint, after the trove of patient data they all relied on was challenged. The three physician-scientists never were at the same institution nor had they ever before written together, but they are the only authors in common on the disputed papers, and the other co-authors all have ties to at least one of them. Their partnership, which seized a high-impact role during a global public health crisis, has now ended disastrously.

[. . .]

Normally co-authors of high-profile papers share subject area expertise or have clear professional ties, says Jerome Kassirer, chief editor of NEJM during the 1990s. He calls the collaboration of the apparently disparate individuals "completely bizarre," and a red flag that the studies warranted intensive scrutiny that the journals failed to provide.

None of the three co-authors responded to requests for comment. Patel spoke with a Science reporter initially but said he wanted to wait for audits of the Surgisphere data to comment, and Desai's spokesperson stopped communicating after the retractions. Still, interviews with former colleagues and a long paper trail shed some light on each of them.

[Continues . . .]