Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

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caltrek
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Wuhan Scientists Warn About New COVID 'NeoCov' Virus with High Infection and High Death Rate
by Snehadri Sarkar
January 28, 2022

https://thelogicalindian.com/trending/n ... port-33586

Introduction:
(The Logical Indian) Researchers from China's Wuhan, where the first COVID-19 virus was discovered in 2019, have again sent a warning regarding a new type of virus called the "NeoCov" in South Africa. As per the scientists, NeoCov has a much higher transmission and death rate than sell. However, this NeoCov COVID virus isn't a new one.

The MERS-CoV virus was first discovered during an outbreak in the Middle Eastern nations in 2012 and 2015 and had similar identities to the SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus in human beings, reported News18.

While this NeoCoV virus was found in a bat population in South Africa and has solely been understood to spread among these creatures, a new study released as a preprint on the bioRxiv website found that NeoCoV and its close relative PDF-2180-CoV can now also infect humans.

What Is The NeoCov Virus?

As per the researchers from Wuhan University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biophysics, just one mutation is needed for the virus to penetrate human cells. The research findings also revealed that COVID-19 is a risk as it binds to the ACE2 receptor differently from the COVID pathogen. Due to this, neither protein molecules nor antibodies produced by humans with respiratory diseases nor who have been immunised can protect themselves against this NeoCoV virus.

The Chinese researchers also added that the NeoCoV harbours the possible assortment of MERS-high CoV's mortality rate (one in every three infected individuals dies) and the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus's high rate of transmission.
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raklian
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caltrek wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:55 pm Wuhan Scientists Warn About New COVID 'NeoCov' Virus with High Infection and High Death Rate
by Snehadri Sarkar
January 28, 2022
How about we call it for what it really is, the Nightmare Virus. :?
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
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Ken_J
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...
While this NeoCoV virus was found in a bat population in South Africa and has solely been understood to spread among these creatures, a new study released as a preprint on the bioRxiv website found that NeoCoV and its close relative PDF-2180-CoV can now also infect humans.

... just one mutation is needed for the virus to penetrate human cells...
well which is it?
Has it been found to infect people or not?
Is it out in the population or not?
Is it a new strain or not?
Xyls
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@Ken: I believe it's modelling done on the virus which shows how it could become transmissible in humans. This is important when it comes to creating a universal coronavirus and which antibodies are needed to do this. It is very closely related to MERS which has a 30% death rate in humans, but doesn't yet infect them but is potentially only 1 mutation off being able to do so...
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I suppose I should apologize for editing choices that did not make it clear that the virus "is just one mutation away." Trying to keep within the no more than five paragraph and 375-word limit rule does have its drawbacks, although I still could have made a different editorial choice that would have included that important point.
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Post by erowind »

There are a fair amount of known viruses that are potential nightmare pandemics, bird flu, MERS, etc. But we should keep in mind that major pandemics are fairly rare statistical events in terms of the lifespan of any given person. There is increased risk compared to prior centuries due to increased encroachment on ecosystems by humans but we still shouldn't expect major pandemics often. Maybe the risk rises from 1-2 per century to being 2-3 or in a really bad scenario 3-4 major pandemics per century. I'm thinking of something like covid or the spanish flu, not swine flu or ebola.
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New HIV variant with more damaging health impacts discovered in Netherlands

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/new-hiv-v ... -1.5766602

Researchers in the Netherlands have discovered a "highly virulent variant" of HIV that causes a more rapid decline in immune system strength and can result in more damaging health outcomes if not treated early.

The study found that patients infected with the variant of subtype-B HIV-1, dubbed the VB variant, showed "significant" differences before antiretroviral treatment compared with individuals infected with other HIV variants.
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Malawi finds Africa's first wild polio case in five years
Source: BBC News
Malawi has declared a wild polio outbreak after a case was identified in a three-year-old girl - the first of its kind in Africa for more than five years.

The continent was declared free of all forms of wild polio in 2020.

The Malawian authorities are now working to contain any possible spread including by boosting immunisation.

Wild polio remains endemic in only two countries in the world - Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60429726
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Human Choices in a Simulated Pandemic: New Study Tests Interventions to Foster Safer Behaviour
February 25, 2022

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/944371

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) The world has relied on adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as ventilation, mask-wearing and physical distancing, to keep us safe throughout the ongoing pandemic. With vaccines completing the toolbox, these measures and the accompanying public health messaging continue to play an important role.

Now a new study has shown that it is possible to test the effectiveness of interventions designed to foster safer behaviour in order to slow the spread of a virus.

The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany, with collaborators at the University of Plymouth, UK, and the IESE Business School, Spain, found that the most effective approach was a message that directly appealed to the public, contained moral reason, and was clear and consistent.

The research, published in Science Advances, asked seven groups of 100 people each in a cross section of the US population to take part in games designed to emulate virus transmission.

The study is described in Science Advances and can be reviewed at this link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abk0428
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