Scientists’ understanding of the novel coronavirus grows daily, with new research constantly emerging.
Here’s a roundup of coronavirus-related news and studies we found interesting and thought-provoking. Among the new research: people who’ve come down with a strain of coronavirus that causes the common cold could have immunity against the novel, deadly form. Sewage could hold insights into the spread of the virus. And large events remain dangerous petri dishes, largely due to so-called super spreaders.
SARS lends immunity to COVID
A person who recovered from SARS, a close cousin of the novel coronavirus, had an antibody that provided immunity to COVID, New York Magazine reports. This is good news, but not super significant, since a very small number of people came down with SARS.
Jumping off that idea, scientists are examining whether people who’ve had another strain of the coronavirus — one that causes the common cold — could have some immunity to protect against the deadly virus.
About half of a group of blood samples taken between 2015 and 2018 had immune cells that could fight the novel coronavirus. None of the people could have been exposed to the novel coronavirus during this timeframe, since it wasn’t yet found in humans. So scientists believe they could have immunity because they were exposed to the strain of coronavirus that causes the common cold. Still, it is still unknown how effective these immune cells are in fighting COVID, New York Magazine reports.
Super-spreader
Barring large-scale events, like sporting games and parades, could lead to fewer COVID hotspots. Big, crowded gatherings, like sporting events or parades, have sparked coronavirus outbreaks across the world, The Wall Street Journal reports.
So-called “super-spreaders” can widely infect people over the course of these types of large-scale gatherings. One likely reason? One minute of loud speech leads to thousands of respiratory droplets, which can stay in the air and infect others for 12 minutes, researchers cited by the Journal showed.
These types of gatherings also lead to more serious and deadly COVID-19 infections, likely because people are exposed to a significant amount of virus for a longer period of time.
Understanding asymptomatic cases
A larger number of people than previously known have an asymptomatic case of coronavirus, research cited by NBC News found.
One study showed that 42 percent of cases in a group studied in Wuhan, China, were asymptomatic. The people who showed no symptoms were mostly younger women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. Asymptomatic people were contagious for eight days, while symptomatic people were contagious for 19 days.
Another found that 81 percent of cases on a cruise to Antarctica were asymptotic.
Indicators of severe illness
Three biological indicators found in blood could tell doctors whether a coronavirus patient is likely to become severely ill 10 days before they begin to decline,
research cited by Business Insider has shown. High levels of an enzyme called lactic dehydrogenase, which is linked to pneumonia lung damage and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, which signals lung inflammation, together with low levels of white blood cells can signal whether a patient is in trouble.
Testing sewage leads to insights
Researchers at Yale University and the state of Connecticut tested raw sewage and discovered that the level of coronavirus in the waste reflected hospitalizations and testing, The New Haven Register reports. The virus load in human waste aligned with hospitalizations three days later.
Scientists hope they can use sewage as a virus surveillance tool.
Herd immunity
Cities across the world are still far from reaching herd immunity in the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reports.
If at least 60 percent of the population had contracted and recovered from coronavirus, it would curb the virus’s spread. But studies show many cities are well below that.
About 20 percent of New Yorkers have had COVID-19. About 10 percent of Bostonians have antibodies. And 17.5 percent of Londoners have antibodies.
Cleveland.com
Mary Kilpatrick
Lebanese Ministry of Information
