Health Care-Illness

Smallpox and other viruses plagued humans much earlier than suspected

The death date of smallpox is clear. After killing more than 300 million people in the twentieth century, it claimed its last victim in 1978; two years later, on 8 May 1980, the World Health Assembly declared that the variola virus, which causes smallpox, had been eradicated. But the origins of this devastating virus are obscure. Now, genetic evidence is starting to uncover when smallpox first started attacking people.

Humans as far back as AD 600 carried variola, an international research team reported this week1 after years of fishing for viral DNA in ancient human remains. The analysis also implies that the virus was circulating in humans even earlier: at least 1,700 years back, in the turbulent period around the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when many peoples were migrating across Eurasia.

Inside the body, the coronavirus is even more sinister than scientists had realized

Researchers exploring the interaction between the coronavirus and its hosts have discovered that when the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects a human cell, it sets off a ghoulish transformation. Obeying instructions from the virus, the newly infected cell sprouts multi-pronged tentacles studded with viral particles.
These disfigured zombie cells appear to be using those streaming filaments, or filopodia, to reach still-healthy neighboring cells. The protuberances appear to bore into the cells’ bodies and inject their viral venom directly into those cells’ genetic command centers — thus creating another zombie.

We Have No Idea If Covid Immune Responses Fall Off Rapidly in Cases Where There Is A Full Response!

We barely understand how the immune system works, actually, that isn’t completely accurate, we know parts of it.  We know that a full response involves numerous cell types.  Making antibody isn’t the end-all and be-all of the immune response.  As I wrote above, long-term immunity requires T and other types of cells.  We don’t even fully understand how long term anti-body responses work, completely.  What triggers are necessary to get anti-body production upon reexposure?  None of these studies are looking at the immune responses of the folks they are examining, they are looking at one aspect of a very complex system and drawing huge conclusions about the importance of the work.

COVID-19 Antibody Response Drops in 3 Months According to Kings College London Report in Review

In the first longitudinal study of its kind, scientists analysed the immune response of more than 90 patients and healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and found levels of antibodies that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms then swiftly declined.

I'm a physiotherapist. Seeing the impact of Covid on survivors will haunt me forever

I’ve never seen anything like coronavirus before. Recovering will be a Herculean task for patients, but we are here to help.
But never have I seen the cracked-glass effect on lung CT scans like those of Covid-19 patients. I have stared at them wondering where the breath is coming from, worrying if they will be able to conjure up the respiratory effort to sit, stand, step, move, live. Those scans will skulk in the depths of my brain for the rest of my days.

Health Care-Illness

Contents

Smallpox and other viruses plagued humans much earlier than suspected

Inside the body, the coronavirus is even more sinister than scientists had realized

We Have No Idea If Covid Immune Responses Fall Off Rapidly in Cases Where There Is A Full Response!

COVID-19 Antibody Response Drops in 3 Months According to Kings College London Report in Review

I'm a physiotherapist. Seeing the impact of Covid on survivors will haunt me forever

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