Researchers in China say preliminary research shows that COVID-19 is mutating and there are at least two types of the virus now. One of those, the more aggressive strain, has infected 70% of the people tested for the virus.
According to doctors at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, a less aggressive strain of the virus has infected the other 30% of those who have contracted COVID-19. Scientists have called the aggressive strain “L type” and the less prevalent version “S type.” The L type strain was seen more frequently in Wuhan, where the outbreak began, but researchers note that the frequency of infection has dropped off. They also cautioned that the data they had available for study was “very limited” and they still don’t fully understand the evolution of this virus.
Forbes reported that more testing and studies are needed to get a grasp on the change this virus is making to keep itself alive and replicate. The scientists also stated that we can likely expect more mutations of this virus.
“Whereas the L type was more prevalent in the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, the frequency of the L type decreased after early January 2020,” they wrote. “Human intervention may have placed more severe selective pressure on the L type, which might be more aggressive and spread more quickly.”
“These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” they wrote.
Researchers say the different strains were likely caused by a mutation of the ancestral version of the virus. And that could mean more are coming. They urged the scientific community to come together to battle and contain the outbreak. –Forbes
The only way to “battle” a virus would be to prevent it’s spread if you have it (by people aren’t showing symptoms for over 14 days with this one) or prevent yourself from contracting it.
Will A Face Mask REALLY Protect You From The Coronavirus?
Make sure you’ve done an audit of your first aid kit, ensuring everything is in working order and you’ve added any over the counter and prescription medications you might need. Shortages of those in the event of a mutation that takes out entire stores won’t be fun.
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It seems that people have finally started preparing, but is it too little too late now that we know the virus has already mutated?
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Here, I admit to feeling a bit like Michael Snyder…a ‘voice crying in the Wilderness’…so be it.
As if – I believe – Wednesday past an article I read indicated (at that time) that since the onset of the Corninavirus in Wuhan, China the virus has differentiated via natural mutation into 160+ sub-variants of the hypothetical, original strain, ergo, ‘Case Zero’.
Per previous post, I identified that my areas are mathematics (also physics) being a degree holder in both disciplines. None of my personal wisdom/knowledge bears on the fields of epidemiology, virology OR molecular biology…yet, I DO have a significant understanding of mathematical modeling and as such a firm grasp of epidemiological modeling in general as a practice.
What I do NOT have at my personal disposal is a ‘contextual background’ that would permit me to decisively ascertain (for my personal self and more broadly) the relative magnitude of the ‘at risk’ potentials here involved.
For that specific reason, I am compelled to estimate the potential effects of CoViD-19 from a ‘worst case’ scenario for want of said context. Many peruse this site, possibly someone hereabouts has a prior experience in-field that would allow them to speak directly to matters at hand. If so, by all means feel free to respond directly.
Years ago – as one of the long-term contributors here I enjoyed a similar relationship with ‘Be Informed’, another regular contributor posting herein. Be Informed’s (BI as nicknamed) special region of expertise was all things related to Earth Sciences, Seismicity, Volcanism and such. I personally did not have a background in BI’s field (my background DID entitle me to speak to all things Astro-physical…) but nothing in my experience gave me the ‘contextual background’ to understand earthquakes, volcano’s and such. Thus it was the case that ‘together’ we jointly could address very much, if not all of the potential perils Humanity might face in time to come…as an example.
Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have an ‘expert-in-residence’ hereabouts in the Life Sciences when we most need that background available to us all here, now. More’s the pity…
That said, an article up at the ‘Hedge, titled;
“The Gathering Storm: Could CoViD-19 Overwhelm Us In The Months Ahead?”, by Charles Hugh Smith
might well be the best that can be obtained currently as an answer to the underlying question(s) preoccupying us of late regarding CoViD-19.
A point of concern that very recently has come to my mind is related to the apparent ‘ethnic susceptibility’ that CoVid-19 has exposed thus far. Ere diving further into that, a brief listing of WHAT we DO know currently will – I think – be helpful to establish a basis for what follows.
First, this virus has a remarkable ability to BOTH transmit itself human-to-human and has a startling ability – heretofor unknown to science – to do so in terms of asymptomatic carriers; specifically, the ability to shed itself thus-through for an astonishing 24 days. To my knowledge, there is no other malady known to Science which has such a protracted ability to do so.
CoViD-19 HAS now reached 6 of the seven continents with the first South Ameican cases only being reported within the last few days…Peru, Brazil and Columbia being those country’s reporting cases to my knowledge currently.
Thus far…the mortality in China remains wholly unclear due to apparent political considerations therein. However, we have seen explosive spreading of this external to ‘The Middle Kingdom’ in only a handful of nations (directly or indirectly) those being Italy (Northern), Iran and Korea. That the mortality appears – appears! – to be high amongst Chinese, Italians and Iranians seems an accurate assessment of such now. Furthermore, said mortality appears to be related to what has been identified (broadly) as the extent of expression of ACE2 proteins on the surfaces of cells lining the lungs. I recently posted a link in previous forums here a link to a posting over at steemit.com where a tabulation of the correlation of ACE2 expression vs. ethnicity was to be found. At the very top of that listing were Han Chinese and Japanese to a very high degree (92% in both cases). Nowhere did I see a figure relating the susceptibility of Meditteranean peoples listed or Middle Eastern peoples per se…hence, this is an ‘unknown’ presently.
Now, it is believed that the entirety of the original native population of the America’s crossed over the then existent land bridge openly connecting North America and Asia some 25-35 thousand years ago during the last major period of global glaciation, making it rather likely that the primordial, original genetic heritage for all such is – in fact – proto-Chinese/Japanese. To be sure, a SIGNIFICANT amount of genetic drift can occur over such a vast amount of time (proximal speaking here, 1000-1250 generations) however, there were to our modern knowledge, no significant admixture of OTHER genetic information added to that genetic base throughout that period either. Therefore, that also remains firmly in the ‘unknown’ category as well.
If in the next few weeks we DO begin seeing CoViD-19 significantly engaging these specific phenotypes it might – might! – be the case that the ACE2 expression amongst these groups is high as well, leading to enhanced communicability/mortality amongst those in addition to what has previously been seen as mentioned. IF, that is seen to be the case, then consider the following.
During the 1918 outbreak of Spanish Flu the native Americans of Alaska and Canada were particularly hard-hit relative to other ethnicities; entire villages in both simply ceased to exist in toto. Thus, in the weeks to come, certainly well into later April, I here suggest that an especial vigilance with respect to outbreaks occurring on/near the native American of North American reservations and South America (broadly) is warranted inasmuch as occurrences in those populations might be rather enhanced relative to the broader population…or, perhaps nonesuch will be seen at all.
IF however, a propensity to transmission or high mortality is there observed it will serve as a ‘source’ component in the equation that defines the total occurring in the Americas at large.
Well, I AM a bit tired and it is late kiddos…dwell on that for a bit if you will.
JOG