DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 1, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1864 times:
They have identified it as a coronavirus, which is the same family of virus that SARS belongs to. Coronaviridae typically cause mild upper respiratory infections.
WrenchBender From Canada, joined Feb 2004, 1779 posts, RR: 9 Reply 2, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1858 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1):
They have identified it as a coronavirus, which is the same family of virus that SARS belongs to. Coronaviridae typically cause mild upper respiratory infections.
Thanks Doc, I thought the zombie apocalypse was about to start.........
Maverick623 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 4744 posts, RR: 6 Reply 3, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1858 times:
Quote:
The United Nations health body said it is urgently seeking more information about the new virus, which comes from the same family as the SARS virus that emerged in 2002 and killed 800 people.
And also the same family as the common cold, which is pretty much incapable of killing an otherwise healthy person.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 4, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1840 times:
Quoting WrenchBender (Reply 2): Thanks Doc, I thought the zombie apocalypse was about to start.........
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 5, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1832 times:
Quoting Maverick623 (Reply 3): And also the same family as the common cold, which is pretty much incapable of killing an otherwise healthy person.
Not so fast. SARS was from the same family and definitely killed otherwise healthy people.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 8, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1695 times:
Quoting greasespot (Reply 7):
Please let this be the start of the zombie apocalypse..In the movies it always starts in london.
See Reply 4. As I said, it already happened. All over the world. You might be one. I think I might be one...
Quoting mbmbos (Reply 6): s this the same cornoavirus that is passed among cats?
Possibly. The coronaviridae are a large family of RNA viruses that infect mammals and birds. In humans, coronavirus tends to cause upper respiratory infections (colds). Coronaviridae cause hepatitis in mice, so obviously they have some breadth of niche.
There are other large virus families with which you might be familiar. Herpesviridae is a large family that contains, of course, the notorious herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 and 2. But did you know that Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV), which causes chicken pox, is also a herpesvirus? Or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), which cause mono?
While all of these viruses have morphologic and genetic similarities and are very clearly related, they all cause very different diseases. And with all herpesviruses, once you are infected, you stay infected.
Maverick623 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 4744 posts, RR: 6 Reply 9, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 1674 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 5):
Not so fast. SARS was from the same family and definitely killed otherwise healthy people.
My point was that the coronavirus family is incredibly varied in the effects each one has on a person, and that the report chose one of the worse (but far rarer) ones to compare it to for the sake of sensationalizing the story.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 10, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 1661 times:
Quoting Maverick623 (Reply 9): My point was that the coronavirus family is incredibly varied in the effects each one has on a person, and that the report chose one of the worse (but far rarer) ones to compare it to for the sake of sensationalizing the story.
If someone is this sick with coronavirus, it suggests that it may well be a particularly virulent form.
scbriml From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2003, 11361 posts, RR: 50 Reply 13, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 1521 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 10): If someone is this sick with coronavirus, it suggests that it may well be a particularly virulent form.
But we can't know this with any certainty without knowing the victim's medical history, no? 'Flu can kill a weak person and just make someone else feel crappy for a few days.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 14, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1432 times:
Quoting scbriml (Reply 13): But we can't know this with any certainty without knowing the victim's medical history, no?
That's why I said "suggests." One learns very quickly in my line of work to make definite statements very rarely and only when extraordinary evidence is available.
Quoting scbriml (Reply 13): 'Flu can kill a weak person and just make someone else feel crappy for a few days.
H1N1 was notorious for killing healthy young people, which is part of what made it so scary.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 16, posted (7 months 4 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1411 times:
Quoting scbriml (Reply 15): In total, I believe around 17,000 deaths were attributed to it. Other 'flu strains have killed many more.
Yes, but this one was pretty bad. Remember that the death rate is modified by 1) the rapid availability of an effective vaccine and 2) the availability of ICU's. In 1918, for example, neither of those things were true.
FCAFLYBOY From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2006, 471 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (7 months 4 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 1366 times:
well hopefully it won't turn out like SARS. Does anyone know why he was flown by
Air Ambulance from Qatar to London? More specialist care or perhaps he was living here?
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16819 posts, RR: 57 Reply 19, posted (7 months 4 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 1230 times:
Quoting FCAFLYBOY (Reply 18): well hopefully it won't turn out like SARS. Does anyone know why he was flown by
Air Ambulance from Qatar to London? More specialist care or perhaps he was living here?
My guess is that Qatar does not have the advanced facilities available in London, from negative-pressure isolation rooms to the laboratory facilities that can identify the pathogen. It's possible they have the isolation room, but the advanced laboratories required to identify a novel pathogen are pretty rare and are usually found only in major centers.
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