SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19

[wopphil]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:55 PM, calscuf said:

This is maybe the most awesome thing I’ve ever read.

Yeah, I had to read it out loud to my wife after I started cracking up.

[fan_since79]

Director of Wuhan hospital dies of the virus.

72,000 cases now.

[Lhalo]

It will be interesting when this thing hits Africa. The Chinese/African trade industry pretty much guarantees it will spread there. Still not worried about the US though. Just stay away from “Diamond Jamboree” and you should be fine. 

[Redondo]

• 'SARS-like damage' seen in dead coronavirus patient in China, report says

A lung biopsy found that a man who died in China from the new coronavirus last month had lung damage reminiscent of two prior coronavirus-related outbreaks, SARS and MERS.

The patient died on Jan. 27 after falling ill two weeks earlier and becoming increasingly breathless. Doctors bombarded him with various medications in attempts to save his life, including anti-infection treatment alfa-2b, AIDS medicines lopinavir and ritonavir and the antibiotic moxifloxacin to prevent secondary bacterial infection. He also received a steroid to treat inflamed lungs and “serious shortness of breath” and a lack of oxygen in his blood.

He reported traveling to Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, from Jan. 8-12 and experienced initial symptoms of mild chills and a dry cough on Jan. 14, the first day of the illness.

His fever decreased as a result of the treatment, but his breathing worsened and his blood-oxygen levels plummeted as he reached his final day of life.

His heart stopped after experiencing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which occurs when fluid builds in the alveoli, the tiny elastic air sacs in the lungs that bring oxygen into the blood and expel carbon dioxide.

“The pathological features of COVID-19 greatly resemble those seen in SARS and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infection. In addition, the liver biopsy specimens of the patient with COVID-19 showed moderate microvascular steatosis and mild lobular and portal activity (figure 2C), indicating the injury could have been caused by either SARS-CoV-2 infection or drug-induced liver injury,” the new report published in The Lancet concluded.

The new case study provides insight into how the virus attacks the lungs of patients. Such analysis has been limited by “barely accessible autopsy or biopsy” data, the study’s authors said.

The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has infected more than 72,000 people and killed over 1,868, far larger numbers than those who suffered from the SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, or MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome, two other coronavirus epidemics of the past two decades.

In late 2002, a coronavirus nicknamed SARS broke out in Southern China, causing severe pneumonia and rapidly spreading to other countries. SARS infected more than 8,000 and killed 774, before disappearing altogether after a number of public health measures. In 2012, a similar outbreak known as MERS began infecting people in Saudi Arabia. It still causes infections in a small number of people each year, and in total has caused around 2,500 infections and more than 850 deaths.

SARS and MERS came from animals, and this newest virus almost certainly did, too. The first people infected with the coronavirus visited or worked at a seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The SARS disease appeared to be more deadly, however, killing around 10 percent of those infected.

 

Other related links:

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GROUP OF MIRAMAR CORONAVIRUS EVACUEES RELEASED FROM QUARANTINE

[Redondo]

Sen. Tom Cotton stands by startling theory on coronavirus origins

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. stood by his earlier suggestion that the deadly coronavirus may have originated in a high-security biochemical lab in Wuhan, China, telling "The Story" Tuesday that we "need to be open to all possibilities" in exploring the origins of the outbreak that has sickened more than 75,000 people around the world.

When host Martha MacCallum pressed the Senator on his startling and unverified claim, Cotton cited a study published by Chinese scientists in The Lancet, which he called a "respected international science journal."

"I'm suggesting we need to be open to all possibilities and we need to demand that China open up and be transparent so a team of international experts can figure out exactly where this virus originated," Cotton said.

He also brought up the "questions" surrounding the biosafety level 4 "super laboratory" in Wuhan, the city where the virus is believed to have originated.

"We know it didn't originate in the Wuhan food market based on the study of Chinese scientists ... I'm not saying where it started, I don't know. We don't know because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won't open up to international experts," Cotton said. "That's what we need to do so they can get to the bottom of where the virus originated and hopefully can effect a diagnostic test and vaccine for it."

Cotton also pushed back against critics, specifically Rutgers University chemical biology professor Richard Ebright, who said he found no indication in the genome sequence of the virus to indicate it was engineered.

"Let's take the professor," Cotton said. "He was ...in fact today cited in the Asia Times saying that it was quite possible that it was a laboratory incident."

"That's not saying this is a bioweapon," Cotton clarified, "but we do know they were investigating and researching coronavirus in that laboratory. It could've been an accidental breach, it could've been a worker that was infected."

"My point is that we don’t know," Cotton said, adding that "until we get all the evidence from the Chinese Communist Party, it is only responsible, not irresponsible, to keep an open mind about the hypotheses."

Cotton also mentioned reports earlier Tuesday that the State Department has designated five Chinese media outlets as “foreign missions,” calling them, in essence, state-sponsored propaganda agents of the CCP.

MacCallum told Cotton that the State Department's designation "does go to the point that you are making that the information we are getting is very difficult to verify," but Cotton turned his focus to The Washington Post and The New York Times, which have both published articles criticizing Cotton since his initial remarks and claimed he suggested the virus was the result of a Chinese bioweapon.

"It tells you the Chinese Communist Party, just like any communist party, has a widespread propaganda effort and regrettably The Washington Post and New York Times have taken millions and millions of dollars from something called 'China Daily'  to run so-called inserts that purport to be news but in reality are Chinese propaganda," Cotton claimed.

China Daily Distribution Corporation is among the five media outlets designated foreign missions.

"They ought not be doing that," Cotton added.

The senator said he "hoped" such contracts would be terminated and revealed that he had personally raised the matter in a letter to the Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr.

"I wrote to the Department of Justice and Attorney General Bill Barr a few weeks ago asking them to examine these inserts and whether or not they ought to be registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act," he said.

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:40 AM, Vladdylonglegs said:

The flu kills over 600,000 people each year and still most people don't even bother to get a flu shot. I don't understand the mass hysteria over this coronavirus.

Good point.

But the flu generally kills old people. This is an equal opportunity virus. So that adds to it.

[tdawg87]

30 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Good point.

But the flu generally kills old people. This is an equal opportunity virus. So that adds to it.

That, plus the amount of people who get the flu each year is in the millions. 

But still, this is a new virus and it has a low death rate. Definitely worth keeping an eye on but nothing worth losing your shit over. Hopefully it gets contained soon.

[m0nkey]

I was on a flight today and a handful of people had masks. Is that going to do anything on a 4 hour flight?

[Tank]

22 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

I was on a flight today and a handful of people had masks. Is that going to do anything on a 4 hour flight?

it depends on which city you went to for tonight's taylor swift concert.

[m0nkey]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

it depends on which city you went to for tonight's taylor swift concert.

Orlando to see Mickey 

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, m0nkey said:

Orlando to see Mickey 

Why are you meeting Hatcher in Orlando?

[Tank]

5 hours ago, m0nkey said:

Orlando to see Mickey 

Congrats on getting away with whatever robbery you successfully pulled off to afford this. Enjoy!

[gotbeer]

A cluster of coronavirus cases in South Korea has been traced to a cult

This should get more interesting.

[Sully151]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:40 AM, Vladdylonglegs said:

The flu kills over 600,000 people each year and still most people don't even bother to get a flu shot. I don't understand the mass hysteria over this coronavirus.

My wife got the flu shot a couple of months back. She is currently in bed with the flu. 

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Sully151 said:

My wife got the flu shot a couple of months back. She is currently in bed with the flu. 

so it worked!

[Lou]

3 hours ago, Vladdylonglegs said:

The flu shot is a total fraud only good for boosting pharmaceutical sales. 

Do chemo next!

[Redondo]

The FBI has purchased $40,000 worth of hand sanitizer and face masks “in case the coronavirus becomes a pandemic in the United States," according to an acquisition document signed Friday.

The order reportedly includes face masks from manufacturing company 3M, as well as disinfectants from PDI Healthcare.

Both virus-prevention products were directed to "be stored throughout the country for distribution in the event of a declared pandemic," the document said, according to CNBC.

A pandemic is described as an epidemic that spreads across a large region, across continents and even the entire globe. More than 1,000 cases and 11 deaths from the virus have been recorded outside mainland China, while more than 75,000 cases and 2,200 deaths were recorded in the country as of Friday.

"We still don't have the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] in there [China] to help out. Neighboring countries are starting to get more and more concerned about this," said Dr. Marc Siegel last week. "Physicians having to diagnose this without all the material they need and the ability to isolate patients is very worrisome ... and eventually, it's going to spill over to the rest of the world potentially causing a pandemic."

The document added the "supplies are for the FBI strategic stockpile for Pandemic Preparedness," the news channel said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global emergency as it spreads to countries outside of China and the number of infected patients continues to grow.

It has yet to be classified as a global pandemic by the organization.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-fears-prompt-fbi-to-order-40g-in-hand-sanitizer-face-masks-report

UT AUSTIN ANNOUNCES CORONAVIRUS 'BREAKTHROUGH' COULD HELP YIELD VACCINE

[Lou]

Some of you owe FS an apology

[Blarg]

The moment I get a fever and start coughing. 

[Redondo]

Untraceable coronavirus clusters emerge, worrying health officials

In South Korea, Singapore and Iran, clusters of infections are leading to a jump in cases of the new viral illness outside China. But it’s not the numbers that are worrying experts: It's that increasingly they can't trace where the clusters started.

World Health Organization officials said China's crackdown on parts of the country bought time for the rest of the world to prepare for the new virus. But as hot spots emerge around the globe, trouble finding each source — the first patient who sparks every new cluster — might signal the disease has begun spreading too widely for tried-and-true public health steps to stamp it out.

“A number of spot fires, occurring around the world is a sign that things are ticking along, and what we are going to have here is probably a pandemic,” said Ian Mackay, who studies viruses at Australia's University of Queensland.

That worst-case isn't here yet, the WHO insists. It isn't convinced that countries outside China need more draconian measures, but it pointed to spikes in cases in Iran and South Korea to warn that time may be running out to contain the virus.

“What we see is a very different phase of this outbreak depending where you look,” said WHO's Dr. Sylvie Briand. “We see different patterns of transmission in different places.”

The World Health Organization defines a “global pandemic” as a disease spreading on two continents, though some public health experts would call an outbreak a pandemic if the spread is over a wide area or across many international borders.

The newest red flag: Iran has reported 28 cases, including five deaths, in just days. The cluster began in the city of Qom, a popular religious destination, but it's not clear how. Worse, infected travelers from Iran already have been discovered in Lebanon and Canada.

In South Korea, most of the hundreds of new cases detected since Wednesday are linked to a church in the city of Daegu and a nearby hospital. But health authorities have not yet found the “index case,” the person among the church’s 9,000 followers who set off the chain of infections.

There also have been several cases in the capital, Seoul, where the infection routes have not yet been traced. In Europe, Italy saw cases of the new virus more than quadruple in a day as it grapples with infections in a northern region that apparently have spread through a hospital and a cafe.

A cluster of cases isn't inherently worrying — in fact, it's expected as an infection that's easy to spread is carried around the world by travelers. The first line of defense: Isolate the sick to treat them and prevent further spread, and quarantine people who came in contact with them until the incubation period is over.

But as the virus becomes more widespread, trying to trace every contact would be futile, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged earlier this month.

“If we still hospitalize and isolate every suspect case, our hospitals will be overwhelmed,” he said. So far, the city-state has identified five clusters of transmission, including two churches. But there remain eight locally transmitted cases with no links to earlier cases, or to China.

Viruses vary in how they infect. The new coronavirus — unlike its cousins SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, and MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome — spreads as easily as a common cold.

And it's almost certainly being spread by people who show such mild symptoms that no one can tell, said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“If that's the case, all of these containment methods are not going to work,” Adalja said. “It's likely mixed in the cold and flu season all over the place, in multiple countries” and gone unnoticed until someone gets severely ill.

These milder symptoms are good news “in terms of not as many people dying,” said Mackay, of Australia. “But it’s really bad news if you are trying to stop a pandemic,” he added.

When Hong Kong reported it first death from the virus earlier this month, it also confirmed three locally transmitted cases with no known link to any previous cases or any travel history to China. Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Center for Health Protection warned then that "there could be invisible chains of infection happening within communities."

Officials in both South Korea and Japan have signaled in the past week that the spread is entering a new phase in their countries.

On Friday, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said the government would have to shift its focus from quarantine and border control to slowing the spread of the virus. Schools and churches were closed and some mass gatherings banned.

Takaji Wakita, head of Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, earlier urged people to work at home or in shifts to avoid being in a crowd, and refrain from holding non-essential and non-urgent meetings.

But Adalja cautioned that far-reaching measures like China instituted in the outbreak's epicenter of Wuhan — where citizens have been ordered to stay in their homes for weeks — can backfire. While it remains

There's no way to predict if the recent clusters will burn out or trigger widespread transmission.

For now, health officials should try and contain the infection for as long as possible while preparing for a change in strategy by preparing hospitals, readying protective equipment and bolstering laboratory capacity, said Gagandeep Kang, a microbiologist who leads India’s Translational Health Science and Technology Institute.

“Although the window of opportunity is narrowing to contain the outbreak, we still have a chance to contain it," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But while doing that, we have to prepare at the same time for any eventualities, because this outbreak could go any direction – it could even be messy.”

to be seen if the new virus is waning, that kind of lockdown makes it hard for people to get other critically important care, like fast treatment for a heart attack.

[fan_since79]

Coronavirus patients coming to Costa Mesa! WTH?!

The city filed a request for an emergency restraining order and it was granted by a federal judge last night. There will be another hearing at 2 pm today.

https://www.foxla.com/news/costa-mesa-looks-to-block-possible-move-of-coronavirus-patients?fbclid=IwAR0Ijy4uGXPDXidJGFzmT2fYHUUFLTICYx81Gen3ILPgWoJulbExygvZLvU

[fan_since79]

from Reuters: Incubation period could be as long as 27 days.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-incubation/coronavirus-incubation-could-be-as-long-as-27-days-chinese-provincial-government-says-idUSKCN20G06W

[tdawg87]

3 hours ago, calscuf said:

There are some classics in here if you read from the start.  
 

If you ever needed to see an example of Blarg knowing it all, but being wrong, this one is for you.

look pal, Blarg can be a pain in the ass but he's still my bro. Don't fuck with him unless you wanna fuck with me, bitch.

[tdawg87]

He massages my balls like a Vietnamese masseuse.

[tdawg87]

We kind of need a new plague tbh.