Though
hopefully, we are passing/have passed the peak of new cases, at least of the
first SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, this section will continue until it becomes
unneeded.
Is a second wave starting from
a more infectious mutant version of Sars-Cov-2? If it is, will our lock down
release bet go horribly wrong?
Mutation of Coronavirus Is
Significantly Increasing Its Ability To Infect
Jun 14, 2020 | Original story from The Scripps Research Institute.
A tiny genetic mutation in the SARS coronavirus 2 variant circulating
throughout Europe and the United States significantly increases the virus’
ability to infect cells, lab experiments performed at Scripps Research show.
The mutation had the effect of markedly increasing the number of
functional spikes on the viral surface, she adds. Those spikes are what allow
the virus to bind to and infect cells.
“The number—or density—of functional spikes on the virus is 4 or 5 times
greater due to this mutation,” Choe says.
The spikes give the coronavirus its crown-like appearance and enable it
to latch onto target cell receptors called ACE2. The mutation, called D614G,
provides greater flexibility to the spike’s “backbone,” explains co-author
Michael Farzan, PhD, co-chairman of the Scripps Research Department of
Immunology and Microbiology.
More flexible spikes allow newly made viral particles to navigate the
journey from producer cell to target cell fully intact, with less tendency to
fall apart prematurely, he explains.
“Our data are very clear, the virus becomes much more stable with the
mutation,” Choe says.
There has been much debate about why COVID-19 outbreaks in Italy and New
York have so quickly overwhelmed health systems, while early outbreaks in
places like San Francisco and Washington state proved more readily managed, at
least initially. Was it something about those communities and their response, or
had the virus somehow changed?
All viruses acquire minute genetic changes as they reproduce and spread.
Those changes rarely impact fitness or ability to compete. The SARS-CoV-2
variant that circulated in the earliest regional outbreaks lacked the D614G mutation
now dominating in much of the world.
But was that because of the so-called “founder effect,” seen when a
small number of variants fan out into a wide population, by chance? Choe and
Farzan believe their biochemical experiments settle the question.
More
WARNING! D614G Mutation Coronavirus Strains From
Europe Could Render Those Recovered From Earlier Strains Defenseless According
to China
Source: D614G Mutation And
COVID-19 Jun 21, 2020 3 days ago
This
would have implications for countries like Japan, South Korea, most of the
South-east Asian countries and even China itself as most of the individuals
infected in the early parts of the crisis were infected with the middle
strains.
More
Scientists estimate the speed and
distance of coronavirus transmission when people cough, sneeze, speak — and run
Published: June 24, 2020 at 7:59 a.m. ET
There’s a lot scientists know — and a lot they don’t.
In “Coughs and Sneezes: Their Role in Transmission of Respiratory Viral
Infections, Including SARS-CoV-2,” released Tuesday, researchers describe the
various types and sizes of virus-containing droplets present in sneezes and
coughs, and how some medical procedures and devices may spread these droplets.
“Coughs and sneezes create respiratory droplets of variable size that spread
respiratory viral infections,” according to the article, which was published
online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine.
“Because these droplets are forcefully expelled, they are dispersed in
the environment and can be exhaled by a susceptible host. While most
respiratory droplets are filtered by the nose or deposit in the oropharynx, the
smaller droplet nuclei become suspended in room air and individuals farther
away from the patient may inhale them,” said Rajiv Dhand, professor and chair
of the Department of Medicine and associate dean of clinical affairs at
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, and co-author of the
paper.
Among the researchers’ recommendations: “Health care providers should
stay six feet away from infected patients, especially when the patient is
coughing or sneezing. For spontaneously breathing patients, placing a surgical
mask on the patient’s face or using tissue to cover his or her mouth,
especially during coughing, sneezing or talking, may reduce the dispersion
distance or viral load.
While ideally, infected patients should be in single
rooms to prevent droplet dispersion, it is acceptable for two patients with the
same infection that is spread by respiratory droplets to be in the same room.”
More
Technology Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC or DC
energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards.
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