BIOL368/S20:Coronavirus

Questions (and some partial answers)

1. Mutation
   • Do scientists know if it has mutated since it first appeared in China and if so how many estimated times? Mking44 (talk) 14:11, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
   • How rapidly does this strain mutate? Jmenzago (talk) 16:47, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
   • Is the virus mutating as it continues to spread? If not, why not? Jennymchua (talk) 16:25, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Recently, some articles have pointed out that 1 in 4 Covid-19 carriers could actually be asymptomatic, what, if any, are the reasons that some people express more symptoms than others? Has the virus mutated? Adinulos (talk) 20:13, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • How quickly does the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain mutate? Nyeo2 (talk) 09:51, 2 April 2020 (PDT)
     • I don't know the answers to these questions directly, but I do know that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has a lower mutation rate than HIV because, unlike HIV, the RNA polymerase that copies the viral genome has a proofreading activity. There are more and more sequences of the viral genome being deposited into databases (see the Week 13 page for some links). Scientists are using the sequences to estimate the mutation rate. In the longer term, there is selective pressure on viruses to become less deadly because if the virus kills all its victims, it cannot spread. So, as time goes on, the virus is predicted to become less deadly.
2. Symptoms and Infectivity
   • What percentage of people who test positive for the virus have no symptomsMpaniag1 (talk) 16:15, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
     • The COVID Tracking Project (USA) has a state-by-state listing of how many people have tested positive vs. negative, but does not list how many were asymptomatic. We need more data from an antibody-based test to really have a good estimate of that on a population level.
   • Recently, some articles have pointed out that 1 in 4 Covid-19 carriers could actually be asymptomatic, what, if any, are the reasons that some people express more symptoms than others? Has the virus mutated? Adinulos (talk) 20:13, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • What is making this coronavirus so much deadlier than others (in terms of genetic makeup)? Jennymchua (talk) 16:25, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Why are infants doing quite well with COVID-19 in comparison to other viruses? (Kvescio (talk) 18:31, 1 April 2020 (PDT))
   • Does the virus actually affect men worse than women? Is that a sociological/cultural difference or actually physiological? (Kvescio (talk) 18:32, 1 April 2020 (PDT))
   • Do some patients who recover still have reduced lung function, and can this be permanent? (Kvescio (talk) 18:38, 1 April 2020 (PDT))
   • Why/How is the virus significantly negatively impacting people that are supposedly not at risk? Adinulos (talk) 20:13, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Some people have the virus and suffer only mild symptoms, while other people get the virus and rapidly deteriorate. Even when people seem healthy or seem frail, there I've seen a lot of stories about unexpected outcomes for patients. Are these differences potentially due to the patient's genetics? Carolyne (talk) 23:58, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Why do children seem to be not as affected by this virus? Is it due to underreporting of child cases, their immune response, or another factor? Carolyne (talk) 23:58, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Why do some cases show no symptoms while others show severe to critical ones? Nyeo2 (talk) 09:51, 2 April 2020 (PDT)
     • For all these questions about why certain people or groups do better than others with the virus, we don't really know why yet. While the number of deaths among men is higher, I haven't come across any data that shows the gender breakdown of who has been tested and who was positive. I wonder if there is a skew in testing and in cases towards men before I can draw any conclusions about deaths. Are the factors that contribute to this finding more environmental, i.e., are more men in a position to get exposed to the virus and therefore catch it, versus biological.
   • Is there any difference in incubation period between older and younger hosts?Dcartmel (talk) 21:48, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Are there any comparisons that can be made between the coronavirus and influenza strains? If so, what? Adinulos (talk) 20:13, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Does exposure to other coronaviruses lessen the impact/severity of Covid-19? Non (talk) 23:03, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
3. Cell/molecular biology
   • Do we know, or have an idea, of how this strain works on a cellular level? Jmenzago (talk) 16:47, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
   • What cellular receptor does the virus target? Is it the same receptor that is found in bats/pangolins? Non (talk) 23:03, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
     • It is the ACE2 receptor and it is the same for bats and pangolins. One of the Week 11 journal articles discussed this.
   • Where does the virus integrate in the human? Nyeo2 (talk) 09:51, 2 April 2020 (PDT)
     • This virus does not integrate into the human genome like HIV does, it is a different class of virus.
4. Vaccines
   • Has there been any progress on the production of a vaccine for Covid-19?Dcartmel (talk) 21:48, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • How has RNA sequencing helped in the development of the vaccine for COVID-19? Sahil Patel (talk) 23:21, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Though there's still a lot to learn, what are some features of the virus that could be exploited to create an effective vaccine? What are the challenges in making a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2? Carolyne (talk) 23:58, 1 April 2020 (PDT) Cdominguez (talk) 15:28, 2 April 2020 (PDT)
   • Can you be reinfected with coronavirus once you get it? Mking44 (talk) 14:11, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
     • We don't know the answer to this yet. To make this determination, we would need to have a population of people that we know have been infected and recovered and then re-exposed to the virus. It's possible that we could figure this out at a later date, but it's not something that we will be able to find out now because it is early days still. This is related to the question of vaccines because vaccines elicit an immune response like infection with the actual virus does. The protection from some vaccines lasts longer than others.
   • Here is a link to a new review article about vaccine progress: Amanat, F. and Krammer, F. (2020) SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: Status Report. Immunity DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2020.03.007
5. Hygiene/disinfection
   • Are there any conditions for which the virus cannot survive, i.e. Heat?Mpaniag1 (talk) 16:15, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • How long can it last on surfaces?Mpaniag1 (talk) 16:15, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
6. What is different in this strain than that found in bats? Found in pangolins? Jennymchua (talk) 16:25, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
7. Will the Covid-19 virus survive better/worse in different seasons (i.e. summer vs. winter)?Dcartmel (talk) 21:48, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
   • We don't know yet. Here is an article that discusses seasonality in general
     • Moriyama, M., Hugentobler, W. J., & Iwasaki, A. (2020). Seasonality of respiratory viral infections. Annual Review of Virology, 7,1 doi: 10.1146/annurev-virology-012420-022445
8. What makes this virus so much more contagious than other viruses? Non (talk) 23:03, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
9. What type of tests are performed in the lab to determine if someone has the virus? Mking44 (talk) 14:11, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
10. Are national governments and public health industries already working to fix their shortcomings that have become apparent as a result of this pandemic? Jmenzago (talk) 16:47, 30 March 2020 (PDT)
11. Once we have flattened the curve, is it still necessary to practice social distancing to some degree? Sahil Patel (talk) 23:21, 1 April 2020 (PDT)
12. If someone with a respiratory illness dies in a hospital, should medical professionals who sign the death certificate write COVID-19 as a cause even if it has not been confirmed? because I have seen an increase in deaths due to pneumonia in some countries, so the data on deaths due to coronavirus could be misrepresented. Sahil Patel (talk) 23:21, 1 April 2020 (PDT)