https://youtu.be/l5bUV666amA?list=PLCOYRf-NVAv-dO_K36Ft_4e4gmzyEyX2_
I have wanted to write about COVID-19 for a long time, but in truth, I’ve been scared to address it.
The first reason for this is that I didn’t want to add to all of the information being thrown at the public – it is a stressful situation to be in without being bombarded with lots of information. The second reason is that I’m not a virologist. I don’t pretend to be an expert on viruses and I didn’t want to get anything wrong.
However, in the absence of mass vaccinations, public health policies are aimed at awareness and education of the public, in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 and unfortunately, some of the scientific concepts are lost a little in translation and lack of understanding is leading to the rise of fake news – which does not lead to complience with public policy.
So, I thought I’d try and help debunk some of the myths and explain some of the concepts, starting right at the beginning by explaining the origins of COVID-19, and what a coronavirus actually is.
The beginning – late 2019
In December 2019, an unknown illness with pneumonia-like symptoms was first reported in Wuhan city, China. The following weeks after this showed the illness spreading across the globe, spreading to over 195 countries and infecting millions as it was finally identified as an unknown coronavirus and therefore being named 2019 novel coronavirus – 2019-nCov.
On the 30th January 2020, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) naming the disease ‘coronavirus 2019’ (COVID-19) and the virus responsible ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in February. Finally, on 12th March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the WHO.
So what are coronaviruses?
Well coronaviruses are a large family of viruses – yes there are a few of them – that are commonly associated with mild illnesses such as the common cold. They are zoonotic viruses, which means that they can be passed between animals and humans. We have seen an example of a coronavirus in 2002 in the disease commonly known as SARS, so they aren’t a new phenomenon. COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
What caused SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19?
Transmission of coronaviruses from animals to humans is rare but COVID-19 is thought to have originated from bats, but now also – pangolins. COVID-19 then passed from a bat to a person. However, it is unclear exactly how the virus first spread to a human. It is believed to be a result of a phenomenon known as antigenic drift and shift.
What is antigenic drift?
Antigenic drift is the reason why we have new epidemics every year like the seasonal flu. This is where there is a small change to the DNA, in the form of a mutated allele or gene, within the genome of the virus. So for example it could change from A-B-C-D-E-F to A-B-C-C-E-F
The change in the gene has to be one of the genes that codes for the virus-surface proteins (antigens) that our antibodies will recognise. As there has been a change to the surface antigen, that means that our antibody won’t recognise it and therefore won’t kick start our immune system to fight off the virus. The result will be that we get the flu, etc. This is not really that serious, because it’s just the result of a single ‘point’ mutation.
What is antigenic shift?
The more serious scenario is antigenic shift. Antigenic shift is when there is a whole new virus emerging due to a mixing of gene segments from two or more viral strains inside a single host cell – called genetic reassortment. The best example to date was the Spanish flu but now, COVID-19.
The virus will start life just infecting one host – like the bat. Then, it will just happen to jump to a human, where normally, because it’s a bat virus, it wouldn’t affect the human. But sometimes, completely naturally, the virus will merge part of it’s genes, with some human genes. That means now, that it’s not the same virus as before, and it’s much more dangerous, because it can infect humans. As the virus will have a mix of genes from two hosts, the surface antigens will change and this means that this virus will have a mixture of both bat and human antigens on it’s surface.
This is dangerous because the human immune system will not recognise it at all.
Where with an epidemic like the seasonal flu, many people will already have the antibodies if that particular change to the gene has already happened before, in a pandemic situation, there is no chance that our bodies would recognise the virus and therefore, more people get sick.
So COVID-19 is a result of antigenic shift?
Well as I mentioned previously, coronaviruses are zoonotic. Zoonotic diseases are caused by harmful germs coming into close contact with a human such as through mixing of mucous, blood, faeces or urine. Viruses have evolved to infect a particular species, so for it to suddenly infect a human from a bat, it is normally unfortunately a freak occurance, but does require a large amount of contact with the virus in the bat.
Viruses are very clever and have one purpose – to survive. Once in a new host, the viruses must adapt in order to survive, so over time, the ‘bat virus’ in the human will evolve to produce variants of the original virus that are better adapted to survive in a human. This is essentially where antigenic shift has occurred and this is what then led to person-to-person spread.
Since the first human infection, person-to-person spread has occured. This is largely due to how the virus is spread. The illness is spread through respiratory droplets – very similar to the flu. Essentially, when someone with the virus coughs or sneezes, they release infection particles into the atmosphere, where, if someone is stood too close, it can make contact with their mucious membranes in the eyes, nose and mouth, and cause infection. It can also be picked up on objects if the infectious droplets of the virus have been dispelled on nearby surfaces.
Schematic explaining the spread of COVID-19. Created with BioRender.com
Is COVID-19 more dangerous than other viruses?
Most cases of COVID-19 are not serious, but it can cause symptoms that can become severe and lead to death. The outbreak was very sudden, meaning it is difficult to estimate the exact rate of mortality or how often the disease becomes severe. This will be made more clear as the situation evolves as it is being studied intently by scientists but currently, the figures suggest that COVID-19 is more deadly than influenza (seasonal flu). To put this into perspective – 9.6% of the cases of SARS during the SARS global pandemic in 2002 led to death. COVID-19 is more contagious and has already caused more deaths worldwide. So yes, it is a very dangerous virus.
I hope this has explained the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19. It is a difficult concept to simplify and very hard to explain in a quick press conference. Hopefully this has explained some of the theory and next time you watch the scientific briefings, you may have a better understanding of some of the complexity behind the advice given. I have two more articles that I have written about COVID-19;
Why social distancing and lockdowns are important during the pandemic
Natural immunity vs Vaccine immunity
If you found this particular piece interesting, I will post the others over the next few weeks.
Stay safe.
Until next time,
M x
https://abioblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/the-origins-behind-covid-19-what-caused-the-virus-to-infect-humans/
Genetic mutations don't necessarily have to produce antigenic drift, unless sequence codes for surface antigen.
He is wrong in regards to mortality and seriousness.
https://rumble.com/viocsv-the-real-story-oan-whats-next-for-the-maricopa-audit-with-dr.-kelli-ward.html