Seven experts ask about their burning questions

The pandemic has reached a disastrous milestone: 1 million people died in COVID-19 World meter..

January 13 We have published “The outbreak of mystery-China pneumonia is likely caused by the new human coronavirus,” by Connor Vanford, a virologist at Queen’s University Belfast. Since then, it has published over 3,500 articles on the now-not-so-new coronavirus, officially named Sars-CoV-2. Despite this enormous output from the world’s leading experts, we have skimmed all the surfaces we need to know about this nasty pathogen. It’s still a mystery.

During this important time, we asked several experts in various fields what their burning questions about the coronavirus were. Here’s what they said:

Queen’s University Belfast, Virologist, Connor Vanford

How did Sars-CoV-2 enter the human population?

As with the flu, to stop the next pandemic, we need to understand how viruses like Sars-CoV-2 infect humans. Originally thought to have appeared on the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in December 2019, the earliest patients No connection to the market It suggests that the virus appeared before that. Why did that happen?

read more:
Outbreak of mysterious Chinese pneumonia caused by new human coronavirus

Since the first investigation into the onset of the SARS coronavirus in 2002, Southeast Asian beetle bats have Reservoir host, And virus (RmYN02) Very similar to Sars-CoV-2 It has already been found in bats. However, similar viruses Discovered in pangolinIncreases the likelihood that Sars-CoV-2 did not jump directly from the bat.

Also, Sars-CoV-2 is already available Cat, dog, tiger And mink, And Sars-CoV-1 (the virus that caused the 2002-04 Sars outbreak), cultivated civets and raccoon dogs Acts as an intermediate host, Brings the bat virus closer to humans. Sars-CoV-2 may be a generalist virus that can spread to a wide range of species.

With increasing contact between humans and wildlife, zoonotic diseases are becoming an ever-increasing threat. We must be cautious. An important step here is to determine why Sars-CoV-2 has transitioned from bats to humans.

University of Cambridge Viral Immunology, Clinical Research Fellow, Sarah Caddy

How can I tell if someone is protected from Sars-CoV-2?

The immune response to Sars-CoV-2 infection is aimed at eliminating the virus from the body. Many studies have carefully described the various stages of the immune response after the initial infection, but it is unclear which aspects of immunity are essential to prevent repeated infections. What is the relative role of different types of antibodies, or the importance of different T cell subsets?

Therefore, an important goal of Sars-CoV-2 immunological research is to identify which immune component (s) can indicate that a person is protected from future infections. Such markers are “Correlation of protection“.

The ability to measure the exact correlation of protection is valuable for two reasons. First, we can see if people who have recovered from COVID-19 are more likely to be re-infected. Second, identifying easily measurable defense correlations can help with vaccine testing. You can speed up the assessment of vaccine efficacy.

However, identify the appropriate correlation of protection Other coronaviruses The more infamous it is, the harder it is. Previously, useful results were produced only when volunteers were ly infected with the virus. the first Human Sars-Cov-2 Challenge Study Will start early next year, so we hope this will help us find protection correlations more quickly.

read more:
Coronavirus: Why I Support the World’s First COVID Vaccine Challenge Trial

Lecturer and Fellow Derek Gatherer, Institute for Social Future Studies, Lancaster University

How can you explain the extreme geographic variation in COVID-19 mortality?

Cumulative COVID-19 deaths (dpm) per million people are highly unevenly distributed throughout Europe, from 7dpm in Slovakia to 856dpm in Belgium (see map below). The wedges of relatively unaffected countries extend from southern Finland to the northern Balkans.

Other continents, especially Southeast Asian countries, have similar pockets with low COVID-19 mortality. Is it possible that the population of a country with low mortality has cross-immunity against Sars-CoV-2 produced by recent exposure to another coronavirus? A clear candidate is the milder “common cold” coronavirus: 229E, NL63, OC43 or HKU1?

A hint that this may be the case is provided by the observation that the antibodies of the original 2003 Sars patient have some binding to the coronavirus. 229E, NL63, especially OC43.. However, due to little attention paid to seasonal coronaviruses, in fact, seasonal non-influenza respiratory infections, relevant clinical field data are generally very sparse and often outdated (eg, for example). , One-third of Hamburg’s inhabitants had antibodies to the coronavirus OC43 in 1975 Or 58% of Hungarians sampled 5 years later).

To determine the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies, which are mild but potentially important, as well as Sars-CoV-2, herd immunity studies understand how reciprocal immune coronaviruses provide. Therefore, more lab research is urgently needed.

Serology-a study of antibody prevalence-was a virology Cinderella compared to the more fascinating world of genomic sequences, but its importance and its neglect are becoming apparent.

Ammoor, Senior Lecture, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, College, Cork University

What are the short-term and long-term successes of vaccines?

The final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic require the identification and manufacture of safe and effective vaccines, followed by a global immunization campaign.

The candidate Sars-CoV-2 vaccine was rapidly developed based on years of vaccine development efforts. The unprecedented large-scale global funding of this pandemic vaccine initiative can only give time for a successful or unsuccessful clinical trial. For a successful clinical trial, the virus must circulate within the community. This allows you to determine how many people have been vaccinated (compared to those receiving a placebo).

Short-term success is a safe vaccine Provide at least 50% protection.. And if you have short-term success, what will your long-term success be?

The biggest question is how long the protection period is. If it is short-lived, how can immunity be returned to defense levels? How do you understand this without relying on traditional empirical approaches? How can we ensure that the Sars-CoV-2 vaccine does not fall into the same situation as the end of the vaccine effort against Sars in the absence of short-term success? There is another pandemic. Long-term vision and commitment are needed for short-term future success.

UCL, Professor of Health Psychology, Susan Michie and Robert West

How does COVID Safe behavior fit into people’s lives?

COVID-19 seems to be with us in the near future. We all have to Take various actions To prevent yourself from infecting or infecting others. We know what these are: the question is how they can become embedded in our lives?

Actions include keeping a longer physical distance from others. Carry a COVID kit (face mask, hand sanitizer, tissue) whenever you are outside the house. Wear face masks properly in public indoor areas and store or dispose of them safely. Disinfection of hands and surface after possible contamination; coughing or sneezing tissue; do not touch eyes, nose or mouth unless you know that your hands are clean. Avoid or leave dangerous situations, such as crowded indoors with poor ventilation. Get vaccinated; get tested if you are at home and have symptoms.

The challenge is how to adopt them on a large scale and maintain them for a long time, that is, how to incorporate them into people’s lives as daily life and habits. To do this, we need to understand what sustains and changes human behavior. We develop routines that become habitual over time, provide time and social and environmental support to achieve this, and equip people with the skills to motivate them to take advantage of these opportunities. is needed.

David Hunter, Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, Richard Doll Oxford University

What is the complete spectrum of the health effects of COVID-19 infection?

This provided excellent data on deaths from COVID-19 infection. This shows a surprising increase in the risk of death with increasing age. This is in contrast to the 2009 H1N1 influenza epidemic, which had relatively little impact on the elderly, and reminds us that there is much to learn about the virus.

Although most of the focus has been on death, a small study of COVID-19 survivors discharged from the hospital suggests that many do not return to baseline health. Despite the many individual reports of fever, fatigue, and recurrence of fatigue, little is known about “long COVID” among those who did not require hospitalization. Wide range of other symptoms..

Follow-up of COVID-19 patients suggests evidence of damage to the heart, lungs, and other organs that may cause future problems, which may be true even among patients with mild symptoms. There is evidence that there is. Many viral infections can cause undiagnosed pathologies, but serious long-term effects are relatively rare. However, if these effects are more common in COVID-19, focusing solely on death means not considering the total cost of failing to control the epidemic or the total benefit of doing so. ..

Research has begun on patients after discharge. Well-managed studies are urgently needed among the majority of infected individuals who did not require hospitalization in case only the tip of the COVID iceberg is visible.