Coronavirus Updates

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

An article from 2017:
Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens

Maximum-security biolab is part of plan to build network of BSL-4 facilities across China.

A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns.

Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens - Nature

Maximum-security biolab is part of plan to build network of BSL-4 facilities across China.

www.nature.com

So China has a high risk, high security biological lab in Wuhan, studying world's most dangerous stuff.

 

[Stora]

Interesting report from 2017

In that outbreak, masked palm civet cats sold in live animal markets passed the virus to people. It wasn’t clear whether civets were the initial source of the virus, or if they caught it from some other animal. Since then, evidence has been building implicating species of horseshoe bats as the origin (SN: 11/30/13, p. 13). Until now, though, coronaviruses isolated from bats were genetically distinct from the one that caused the 2003 outbreak, suggesting that bat strains weren’t the direct ancestor of SARS.
After five years of surveying bats in a cave in southern China’s Yunnan Province, Zhengli Shi and colleagues discovered 11 new strains of SARS-related viruses in horseshoe bats (especially in Rhinolophus sinicus). Within the strains, the researchers found all the genes to make a SARS coronavirus similar to the epidemic strain, says Shi, a virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Bats in China carry all the ingredients to make a new SARS virus----Wuhan Institute of Virology

 

[Beebo Brink]

MSNBC had an interview with another Harvard med person of some kind (I missed the intro), who reported that this flu may be contagious up to a day before the fever symptom displays. He was calm and measured in his tone, but described this pathogen as being more lethal than SARS. Lurking in his eyes was the same "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD" that Feigl-Ding blurted out.

I can see the validity of the criticism that there's a fine line between informing the public and creating undue consternation or panic. On the other hand, if experts are very worried, I want to know that.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

When I hear the words calm down I can't help thinking of the Harry Enfield sketches.

They make me think of tea towels and coffee mugs.

 

[OrinB]

MSNBC had an interview with another Harvard med person of some kind (I missed the intro), who reported that this flu may be contagious up to a day before the fever symptom displays. He was calm and measured in his tone, but described this pathogen as being more lethal than SARS. Lurking in his eyes was the same "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD" that Feigl-Ding blurted out.

I can see the validity of the criticism that there's a fine line between informing the public and creating undue consternation or panic. On the other hand, if experts are very worried, I want to know that.

The report i've heard on the radio today suggested that because the virus can be transmitted in the air, there is a high chance it can easily become as virulent as swine flu. Influenza is another virus that be transmitted without a person showing symptoms.

In other news, i think time to acquire data and therefore make more valid conclusions using larger data sets, is how the scientists are proceeding. This article suggests it's really been too early to understand exactly where the virus has been hiding and develpoing. Snakes or Bats could still be the answer, it's just too early to say with the smaller amount of data available.

Snakes?! The Slippery Truth of a Flawed Wuhan Virus Theory

One paper advanced a controversial theory about the disease's origin. Other scientists aren't biting.

www.wired.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

Every scary pandemic that doesn't quite materialize is still a dry run for The Big One that *is* coming. Because eventually we will roll snake-eyes in this arms race with pathogens.

So the question to ask today is "How are we doing?" China is obviously straining to deal with the logistics of patient care in Wuhan. The reports of hasty new hospital construction projects gives me pause for a future date when these buildings collapse due to shoddy materials and construction short-cuts.

The US is not well prepared for a huge patient surge either. There are the millions of people without healthcare who will wait too long before going to a doctor, even assuming there was a place to go, given our hospital shortages in poor urban areas and the paucity of medical facilities in rural counties. We do not fund and staff healthcare for these kinds of emergency situations; we barely support general public healthcare in the best of times.

 

[OrinB]

Notwithstanding the issues of US healthcare for those without general insurance for the basics, any emergency medical care in the case of pandemics or national medical emergencies is completely reliant on private companies "being generous" with their services to aid and assist any federal relief effort. It beggars belief that a country as huge and important (and in some ways a major target) as the US is reliant on capitalist companies to support their citizens.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Some insights on that area of China from a poster on Democratic Underground:

My wife is from Hubei.. the situation is not good.

 

[Beebo Brink]

A fifth case of coronavirus is confirmed in the US as China struggles to contain outbreak

Another case of coronavirus has been confirmed, in Arizona, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday, bringing the total to five cases in the United States.

www.cnn.com

 

[Brenda Archer]

 

[Beebo Brink]

Tried to follow links but the Twitterverse is unavailable. I suspect it's the overload from Kobe Bryant's death.

 

[danielravennest]

Speaking for a high trustworthyness is the fact he is researching epidemiology in an Ivy League university...

...but his research publications only include links to Google Scholar. The lack of a link to the PubMed research database - the de facto go to database if you do medical research - leads me to the conclusion is not involved in serious medical research at all.

Google Scholar is only being used as a handy link source for his papers. The actual papers are published in The Lancet, Journal of the AMA, PLoS, and other reputable journals. Even as an engineer I recognize them as good journals.

 

[Fionalein]

Google Scholar is only being used as a handy link source for his papers. The actual papers are published in The Lancet, Journal of the AMA, PLoS, and other reputable journals. Even as an engineer I recognize them as good journals.

With the publish or perish culture in modern science everyone that contributed some part ends up with a name in institute papers theese days...

A physician that does only bother to link to their published papers on PubMed is just like a quantum physicist who would not bother to link to their published papers on arXiv... fishy! There is a typical way you do the literature part of research in each given field of studies. Sure you can research on Google Scholar too, but you would only do so after you did a PubMed research in medicine...

 

[Brenda Archer]

Oh great.

 

[Beebo Brink]

CDC confirms new coronavirus cases in U.S.; 5th patient diagnosed

All of the U.S. cases are patients who have recently traveled from Wuhan, China.

www.nbcnews.com

Three new cases of coronavirus confirmed in US, four more being tested in NY

The United States confirmed three new cases of the deadly coronavirus over the weekend — while officials in New York said four possible patients are being tested here. The latest confirmed cases — …

nypost.com

Coronavirus cases found in US will test a response developed during past outbreaks; precautions taken in Maryland

Getting closer to my home territory:

2 of 3 Virginia Patients Test Negative for Possible Coronavirus

Two of three patients the Virginia Department of Health was investigating for possible novel coronavirus have tested negative, health officials announced Monday. Test results for a patient in Northern Virginia are expected later this week. The three patients met the clinical and epidemiologic...

www.nbcwashington.com

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

 

[Cristiano]

An AI epidemiologist was among the first to break news of the coronavirus outbreak in China

By using a model founded upon machine learning and natural language processing techniques, BlueDot sent out the first signs of warnings of the Wuhan outbreak to its clients on December 31.

www.neowin.net

 

[Arilynn]

With the publish or perish culture in modern science everyone that contributed some part ends up with a name in institute papers theese days...

A physician that does only bother to link to their published papers on PubMed is just like a quantum physicist who would not bother to link to their published papers on arXiv... fishy! There is a typical way you do the literature part of research in each given field of studies. Sure you can research on Google Scholar too, but you would only do so after you did a PubMed research in medicine...

Have you read his bio on the Harvard site? https://scholar.harvard.edu/ericding

Here is part of it:

He has published in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and Health Policy. His 150+ publications have received 50,000 citations (H-Index 70). As a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher, He was ranked in 2018 as among the Top 1% of all scientists worldwide

i really doubt he does anything directly with regard to his Harvard page, which is focused on having him as a speaker and consultant and not a researcher. I don’t understand what’s fishy about it. Anyone interested can do a PubMed search, although people considering him as a speaker may not find PubMed and its contents to be useful.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Have you read his bio on the Harvard site? https://scholar.harvard.edu/ericding

Calling his judgment into question for posting less-than-tactful tweets is perfectly legitimate criticism, but a case for that can be made without calling into question his credentials and qualifications.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

There were confirmed cases in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California just a day or so ago.

I was just down there over the weekend.

Okay, I got the message.
Sid's contributions to VVO end here and now. Arrivederci a tutti.

Wait... What the hell just happened?