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SERIOUS COVID

Discussion in 'COVID-19' started by Notmyrealname, Dec 12, 2020.

  1. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    WARNING: This post contains science and Covid. Those not interested are advised to skip.

    From: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54832563

    "Covid: Genes hold clues to why some people get severely ill"

    Briefer version:

    Why some people with coronavirus have no symptoms and others get extremely ill is one of the pandemic's biggest puzzles.

    A study in Nature of more than 2,200 intensive care patients has identified specific genes that may hold the answer. They make some people more susceptible to severe Covid-19 symptoms. The findings shed light on where the immune system goes wrong, which could help identify new treatments.

    These will continue to be needed even though vaccines are being developed, says Dr Kenneth Baillie, a consultant in medicine at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, who led the Genomicc project.

    "Vaccines should drastically decrease the numbers of covid cases, but it's likely doctors will still be treating the disease in intensive care for a number of years around the world, so there is an urgent need to find new treatments."

    'Angry' cells
    Scientists looked at the DNA of patients in more than 200 intensive care units in UK hospitals ........ to pinpoint any genetic differences, and a number were found - the first in a gene called TYK2. “It is part of the system that makes your immune cells more angry, and more inflammatory,” explained Dr Baillie. But if the gene is faulty, this immune response can go into overdrive, putting patients at risk of damaging lung inflammation.

    Too little interferon
    Genetic differences were also found in a gene called DPP9, which plays a role in inflammation, and in a gene called OAS, which helps to stop the virus from making copies of itself. Variations in a gene called IFNAR2 were also identified. IFNAR2 is linked to a potent anti-viral molecule called interferon, which helps to kick-start the immune system as soon as an infection is detected. It’s thought that producing too little interferon can give the virus an early advantage, allowing it to quickly replicate, leading to more severe disease.

    Interferon can be given as a treatment, but a World Health Organization clinical trial concluded that it did not help very sick patients. However, Prof Jean-Laurent Casanova said the timing was important: "I hope that if given in the first 2-4 days of infection, the interferon would work, because it essentially would provide the molecule that the [patient] does not produce.”


    But, the Genomicc study - and several others - has revealed a cluster of genes on chromosome 3 strongly linked to severe symptoms. However, the biology underpinning this is not yet understood.
     
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  2. Toto

    Toto DI Senior Member

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    Yes. I've read before they think there is a genetic link to those patients the get a cytokine storm. Is this similar to the hemorrhagic fever in Dengue? Seems Ace-2 is in many places in the body. So we are now a little closer to understanding the severe turn on the 10th day of Covid? It also isn't clear to me how some people can have covid up to 72 days, like the body was fighting but not winning.
     
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  3. OP
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    Must be factors like the strength of the infection, the particular organs affected, the amount of damage to those organs, the age of the patient, the health of the patient, the competence of the medical staff... etc. I suppose it is like overwhelming an enemy as in the 6 Day War compared with the 100 Year War (and some longer)!
     
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  4. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    How common are these mutations?
     
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I am not sure they can be classed as mutations - they are the genotype the person has, and probably was born with rather than a post-natal mutation, which exposes that person to different levels of risk. But that raises the point as to how our genotypes arose - in the millions of years of evolution there has to have been many mutations. Yes, folks, we are all alien mutants!

    But how common are these genes which seem to expose the people who have them to greater risks? No idea. The article gave a figure of 15% of cases in their study who had serious illness related to interferon (in many cases probably related to the genes they found) as a cause or enhancement but gave no figures for the percentage of sufferers with each type of gene they studied. This pandemic has shaken the planet and I am sure there are many more studies yet to come - some will no doubt be contradictory with some researchers, countries and governments trying to trump the others. :wink:
     
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  6. SkipJack

    SkipJack DI Senior Member

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    It has had the side benefit of pumping a lot of money into virus and immune system research.

    Historically vaccine research is not very profitable because eliminating the disease eliminates revenue.

    The pandemic has pushed us to make great gains in research into viruses and the immune system. This additional knowledge will benefit numerous other health issues.
     
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  7. Edward K

    Edward K DI Senior Member Veteran Navy

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    Virtually everything in life depends on genetics in some way. For instance, the SUSCEPTIBLITY to cancer is genetic, if you don't smoke or abuse your body, you can last longer. Both my smoking parents died in their early 50's, i'm still here at 77. Susceptiblity and reaction seriousness to COVID is genetic, whether you get it or not and how serious depends partially on that, plus mask, crowds, surges, etc.
     
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    Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I was just reading about the vast amounts of government and charity money poured into research for a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 - as you say, it can be a time-limited product (as with Sars) and not worth the development costs. Companies have to think about shareholders.
     
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  9. Toto

    Toto DI Senior Member

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    Aahh, but our friends in nutter land:
    They design the vaccine so you need boosters every year, guaranteeing the profits of the Deep State cabal!

    We also need better eyes. The Israeli's developed a device you blow through and it vibrates and detects the virus at the frequency at which it vibrates. A combination of things might allow us to see it, or at least detect it in the air. This is where I see Government partnering with private research - where we defray a portion of the cost of development where we see a benefit to society as a whole.

    Genetics has made huge strides - I can't even stay abreast of it.
     
  10. Toto

    Toto DI Senior Member

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    A "new variant" of coronavirus has been identified in the UK, which is believed to be causing the faster spread in the South East, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

    More than 1,000 cases of the new variant have been found, "predominantly in the south of England", Mr Hancock told the House of Commons this afternoon.


    It is spreading faster than the existing strain of coronavirus and is believed to be fuelling the "very sharp, exponential rises" in cases across the South East, he said.


    https://news.sky.com/story/new-vari...entified-in-uk-health-secretary-says-12161416
     
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