Life on the front line.

[westcountryvillain]

Interesting article Dubbs and very well made points, do the powers that be need to get on and grow the antibody testing capacity in major cities to understand how much herd immunity there is in the population?

Like others I have become very irritated by whole school year groups being ordered to isolate and the knock-on effects to parents, their employers & the economy as well as the impact on their education & development which if things carry on much longer could be felt forever. To my mind, most of us run by routine at work and often at play so for the most part we mix day to day to the same people. Where this goes wrong is larger crowds where social distancing isn't possible - the Cheltenham festival and airports being two cases in point. It seems to have taken weeks since beaches were packed for the numbers to start rising at pace, the problem the Govt has as I see it is that it's still an emerging situation so damned if you do or don't.

Myself and Mrs WCV are frontline workers - our AB tests are positive, we had mild symptoms well before schools were closed in March. My brother-in-law is a hospital doctor who was floored by it for about a week, tested negative at the time but AB test is positive - his wife (my sister) has tested negative. So your point about immunology not being straightforward is spot on - weird old times.

[Dubbag]

Interesting article Dubbs and very well made points, do the powers that be need to get on and grow the antibody testing capacity in major cities to understand how much herd immunity there is in the population?

Since the very beginning of this pandemic wcv.....The policy in the HSE over here has always been that all indications then and now are that AB will give you a form of immediate protection for approximately 3/4 months down the road.....after that the AB may not be effective in preventing you from being reinfected...

[Dubbag]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA

Public health body the CDC has updated its guidance to say the virus is airborne, and that it can spread "through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols". These are produced even when people breathe. Other research from the CDC shows that coronavirus can spread easily among passengers on long-haul flights.

This last part ties in with what we have been told here some time back...that evidence seems to be indicating a re circulation of droplets in indoor air conditioning units....I suspect many of these units are not fitted with HEPA filters which filter out very fine particulates in the air....
If you can work from home....lucky you....

[kettering_baggie]

So what is the answer? Everyone stay at home for a couple of years? Shut yourself away until a vaccine is available? What if there never is one? We have one more risk to deal with in our lives but eventually, herd immunity will gradually take effect, won’t it? How can you expect the virus to be eradicated, or at least, it’s effects minimised, when the people responsible for policies are f***ing useless?

[Dubbag]

So what is the answer? Everyone stay at home for a couple of years? Shut yourself away until a vaccine is available? What if there never is one? We have one more risk to deal with in our lives but eventually, herd immunity will gradually take effect, won’t it? How can you expect the virus to be eradicated, or at least, it’s effects minimised, when the people responsible for policies are f***ing useless?

So what is the answer?
I dont' know Ketts.......My gut feeling is that people want to get on with there lives everywhere.....that it's not as bad as the scientists and governments are saying it is. That people are fed up. They have done what they have been asked and yet we seem no further along with progress..... So people are fed up....and they will feel rightly and justifiably so...
I don't know Ketts....I really don't know....I am on two weeks holiday now...and I cant leave Dublin...I set up my tent in the back garden and go out some of the nights....just for a difference...
I don't know Ketts...I really don't know....

[Dubbag]

From the RTE web site....This I think is the way forward.......

Scientists believe they may have discovered a new way to combat the Covid-19 virus.

An international team from Bristol University believes that small molecule anti-viral drugs could be developed to help stop the virus from infecting human cells.

Sars-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19.

The scientists have found a "druggable" pocket within a Sars-CoV-2 spike protein which they hope could lead to new anti-viral drugs to shut down and eliminate the virus before it enters human cells.

They describe the findings, published in the Science journal, as a potential "game changer" in defeating the current pandemic.Spike proteins, which are on the surface of the virus, are a key element for infections of the human cells.

The researchers found a small molecule, linoleic acid, buried in a tailor-made pocket within the spike protein.

Linoleic acid (LA) is a free fatty acid, which is needed for many cellular functions and cannot be produced by the human body.

LA plays a ***** role in inflammation and immunity levels, and it is also needed to maintain cell membranes in the lungs to help people breathe properly."The question now is how to turn this new knowledge against the virus itself and defeat the pandemic."

The team used a powerful imaging technique, called an electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM), to analyse the Sars-CoV-2 spike.

A 3D structure of the Sars CoV-2 spike protein was generated allowing the researchers to peer deep inside the spike and identify its molecular composition.

The researchers spotted LA in a pocket within the spike protein. Prof Berger described the research team as having been "truly puzzled" by the discovery and its implications.Prof Berger said: "So here we have LA, a molecule which is at the centre of those functions that go haywire in Covid-19 patients, with terrible consequences.

"And the virus that is causing all this chaos, according to our data, grabs and holds on to exactly this molecule - basically disarming much of the body's defences."

The team have found hope from previous studies on the rhinovirus, which is a virus that causes the common cold.

They said that a similar pocket was exploited to develop potent small molecules which were successfully used as anti-viral drugs in human trials in a clinic.

The Bristol team hope a similar strategy can now be used to develop small molecule anti-viral drugs against Sars-CoV-2.

The team included experts from Bristol UNCOVER Group, Bristol biotech Imophoron Ltd, the Max Planck Institute for Biomedical Research in Heidelberg, Germany and Geneva Biotech Sàrl, Switzerland.

From RTE web site...

[mickd1961]

From the RTE web site....This I think is the way forward.......

Scientists believe they may have discovered a new way to combat the Covid-19 virus.

An international team from Bristol University believes that small molecule anti-viral drugs could be developed to help stop the virus from infecting human cells.

Sars-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19.

The scientists have found a "druggable" pocket within a Sars-CoV-2 spike protein which they hope could lead to new anti-viral drugs to shut down and eliminate the virus before it enters human cells.

They describe the findings, published in the Science journal, as a potential "game changer" in defeating the current pandemic.Spike proteins, which are on the surface of the virus, are a key element for infections of the human cells.

The researchers found a small molecule, linoleic acid, buried in a tailor-made pocket within the spike protein.

Linoleic acid (LA) is a free fatty acid, which is needed for many cellular functions and cannot be produced by the human body.

LA plays a ***** role in inflammation and immunity levels, and it is also needed to maintain cell membranes in the lungs to help people breathe properly."The question now is how to turn this new knowledge against the virus itself and defeat the pandemic."

The team used a powerful imaging technique, called an electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM), to analyse the Sars-CoV-2 spike.

A 3D structure of the Sars CoV-2 spike protein was generated allowing the researchers to peer deep inside the spike and identify its molecular composition.

The researchers spotted LA in a pocket within the spike protein. Prof Berger described the research team as having been "truly puzzled" by the discovery and its implications.Prof Berger said: "So here we have LA, a molecule which is at the centre of those functions that go haywire in Covid-19 patients, with terrible consequences.

"And the virus that is causing all this chaos, according to our data, grabs and holds on to exactly this molecule - basically disarming much of the body's defences."

The team have found hope from previous studies on the rhinovirus, which is a virus that causes the common cold.

They said that a similar pocket was exploited to develop potent small molecules which were successfully used as anti-viral drugs in human trials in a clinic.

The Bristol team hope a similar strategy can now be used to develop small molecule anti-viral drugs against Sars-CoV-2.

The team included experts from Bristol UNCOVER Group, Bristol biotech Imophoron Ltd, the Max Planck Institute for Biomedical Research in Heidelberg, Germany and Geneva Biotech Sàrl, Switzerland.

From RTE web site...

Any chance of an abbreviated “Noddy to Big Ears” summary of this Dubs.

You lost me after two paragraphs mate.

[Dubbag]

The Sars-CoV-2 is the virus......Covid-19 is the disease.
If you see the drawings of the Sars-CoV-2 virus....it has the little spikes....They are what latch onto and infiltrate your healthy body cells. Once inside they take over reproduction (so to speak) of the cell and cause it to basically start crashing....causing outward symptoms and death...
If the spikes of protein can be nullified before infecting the cell then.....well the old saying......"A stitch in time saves nine."
It is quite a break through........surprised nobody is reporting it much...but then, different agendas......

[mickd1961]

The Sars-CoV-2 is the virus......Covid-19 is the disease.
If you see the drawings of the Sars-CoV-2 virus....it has the little spikes....They are what latch onto and infiltrate your healthy body cells. Once inside they take over reproduction (so to speak) of the cell and cause it to basically start crashing....causing outward symptoms and death...
If the spikes of protein can be nullified before infecting the cell then.....well the old saying......"A stitch in time saves nine."
It is quite a break through........surprised nobody is reporting it much...but then, different agendas......

Cheers Dubs.

I’m a whiz on racket advice if you take up tennis or squash etc 😆

[Dubbag]

Cheers Dubs.

I’m a whiz on racket advice if you take up tennis or squash etc ��

Just started back jogging again yesterday (can't say running anymore) so the idea of twisting in a game of squash is making me wince even now...but thanks all the same....