Coronavirus - Is this the killer flu that will wipe us out?

[Penelope Stopit]

tertius said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

Tlandcruiser said:

Can we have a separate thread to discuss the death rate, it’s pretty boring to read the constant arguments over the death rate for the last 300 pages. This will allow this thread to focus on the news and story

This. A million times this.

But what percentage of thread contributors support this view?

20% for

30% against

50% not feeling well enough to comment

[LandRoverManiac]

V6 Pushfit said:

Does that include yours that says its all just a runny nose?

Have I said that? Please quote me..... I'm happy to wait.

I am of the opinion that it isn't something to be unduly worried about. It is relatively less lethal than the other nasties that have been unleashed in my liftetime. This is also supported by the distinct lack of dead bodies outside of Wuhan - because let's be honest here - the number killed outside of China is not in the 'Plague 2.0' bracket. The lag time is not 3 weeks for everyone and we've had a lot of cases outside of China to watch very closely.

It's relative.

Like an asteroid hitting the planet - is it potentially serious? Yes. Definitely.

Is is something I need to worry about at this point in time? No. Not especially.

Will worrying about it improve the chances of said asteroid NOT hitting the planet? No.

Winding yourself up about it will not magically reduce your chances of contracting it. Unless it has determined that it'll only seek and destroy those don't take it seriously enough? A virus with an ego...

[nffcforever]

I’d like to see a separate thread for discussions about how annoyed people get by the discussions about the fatality rates of the virus, that take place in the thread about the virus.

There’s already a separate thread now about the seasonal flu to satisfy those who keep confusing this with a thread about seasonal flu.

There could also be a separate thread for the discussions about how much of a non-issue the really rather big issue is, to satisfy those who keep accidentally finding themselves in here.

Edited by nffcforever on Sunday 23 February 16:07

[Gregmitchell]

I remember every year when we have flu season, the military on the streets in Hazmat suits, seems like it only happened last year.

[LandRoverManiac]

@nffc

The thread title is a question - is this the virus that will wipe us all out?

A fairly broad range of answers and opinions have been thrown into the mix - some you may agree with and some you may not.

Unless you'd like to create another thread called - 'Is this the virus that will wipe us all out - no you're not allowed to say no because it will.'

[nffcforever]

The answer is no.

End thread.

[booboise blueboys]

4 more UK cases confirmed

[bitchstewie]

Evacuees from the Diamond cruise ship apparently.

[Gareth79]

"They all tested negative for COVID-19 before they flew."

[nffcforever]

I wonder how the unmasked coach drivers are feeling about this news.

[Hippea]

So that means the unprotected coach drivers were exposed this time around. I imagine they just went home as normal?

[RTB]

V6 Pushfit said:

So can serum from a recovery be used as an effective treatment in a remote setting ie get a pint of blood from a recovery, stick it in a centrifuge to get the serum and inject a bit into the next 50 patients?

Or isn’t that your science?

Convalescent plasma was used during the Ebola outbreak and I think some Chinese centres have used it in this outbreak. It was also tested in the 1918 flu pandemic with some success (around 20% reduction in fatality).
Its not really my science thougj. Most of my lab career has been involved in generating and engineering antibodies for drug discovery programmes.

Found a link:

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/14/c_1387...

Edited by RTB on Sunday 23 February 16:38

[Enricogto]

132 confirmed cases in Italy.
School and museums across the whole north of the country closed for the next week.

[jonny142]

nffcforever said:

I wonder how the unmasked coach drivers are feeling about this news.

[turbobloke]

booboise blueboys said:

4 more UK cases confirmed

Now being transferred from Arrowe Park hospital in Wirral to specialist NHS infection centres, according to England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty.

[Pantechnicon]

Are the methods for testing exactly the same in all countries? It seems strange that they tested negative in Japan and positive when they arrived in Blighty

[booboise blueboys]

Enricogto said:

132 confirmed cases in Italy.
School and museums across the whole north of the country closed for the next week.

Now 137. The rate of confirmed cases in Italy is going parabolic. ~150% increase in the last 24 hours.

[otolith]

Pantechnicon said:

Are the methods for testing exactly the same in all countries? It seems strange that they tested negative in Japan and positive when they arrived in Blighty

There have been multiple cases of people testing negative and later testing positive. There is a delay between them getting infected and testing positive.

[p1stonhead]

booboise blueboys said:

Enricogto said:

132 confirmed cases in Italy.
School and museums across the whole north of the country closed for the next week.

Now 137. The rate of confirmed cases in Italy is going parabolic. ~150% increase in the last 24 hours.

Surely this is just because of them testing people they suspect came into contact with a confirmed case?

I suspect a LOT more than this actually have it just haven’t been tested.

[RTB]

Pantechnicon said:

Are the methods for testing exactly the same in all countries? It seems strange that they tested negative in Japan and positive when they arrived in Blighty

RT-PCR tests. I don't know where the primers are designed to or if everyone is using the same primer set. The trick is to find stable regions of the viral genome that are specific to that virus. Its used in a lot of pathogen detection assays. HIV being one.

Technically you only need one copy of the viral genome to amplify it, but in reality you need a decent amount to stand a good chance. Especially when detecting RNA which is pretty unstable at the best of times. There's the issue of viral load between test days and how competently the sample has been taken and stored (medics don't always appreciate the nuances of molecular biology sample prep). A quick throat swab might not be enough.