By: Ken LaRive
Invader Virus
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It came, multiplying in like kind,
From a strangers hand it found,
A pitiless path on primitive mind,
And a body of fertile ground.
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It crossed the vacuums of the air,
A simplistic entity of genetic lie,
And found safe haven through my despair,
In the harbor of my eye.
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Gates flew open with its master keys,
As antibodies rushed to defend,
On fields of blood a fever seethes,
Where the aches and chills begin.
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Riots of cosmos, poisoned and cursed,
Battle germs of invadering bands,
Night air makes it far the worst,
As I sneeze into my hands.
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Exhausted in a fitful sleep,
In dreams of twistering bits,
The invaders child drifts from its keep,
And on my hand it sits.
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To rid the virus may seem coarse,
But to win one has to pay,
It’s fact invaders leave their host,
Only when given away.
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Coronavirus: Ten Reasons Why You Ought Not To Panic
By: Ignacio López-Goñi
Regardless of whether we classify the new coronavirus as a pandemic, it is a serious issue. In less than two months, it has spread over several continents. Pandemic means sustained and continuous transmission of the disease, simultaneously in more than three different geographical regions. Pandemic does not refer to the lethality of a virus but to its transmissibility and geographical extension.
What we certainly have is a pandemic of fear. The entire planet’s media is gripped by coronavirus. It is right that there is deep concern and mass planning for worst-case scenarios. And, of course, the repercussions move from the global health sphere into business and politics.
But it is also right that we must not panic. It would be wrong to say there is good news coming out of COVID-19, but there are causes for optimism; reasons to think there may be ways to contain and defeat the virus. And lessons to learn for the future.
1. We know what it is
The first cases of AIDS were described in June 1981 and it took more than two years to identify the virus (HIV) causing the disease. With COVID-19, the first cases of severe pneumonia were reported in China on December 31, 2019 and by January 7 the virus had already been identified. The genome was available on day 10.
We already know that it is a new coronavirus from group 2B, of the same family as SARS, which we have called SARSCoV2. The disease is called COVID-19. It is thought to be related to coronavirus from bats. Genetic analyses have confirmed it has a recent natural origin (between the end of November and the beginning of December) and that, although viruses live by mutating, its mutation rate may not be very high.
2. We know how to detect the virus
Since January 13, a test to detect the virus has been available.
3. The situation is improving in China
The strong control and isolation measures imposed by China are paying off. For several weeks now, the number of cases diagnosed every day is decreasing. A very detailed epidemiological follow-up is being carried out in other countries; outbreaks are very specific to areas, which can allow them to be controlled more easily.
4. 80% of cases are mild
The disease causes no symptoms or is mild in 81% of cases. Of course, in 14% it can cause severe pneumonia and in 5% it can become critical or even fatal. It is still unclear what the death rate may be. But it could be lower than some estimates so far.
5. People recover
Much of the reported data relates to the increase in the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths, but most infected people are cured. There are 13 times more cured cases than deaths, and that proportion is increasing.
Recoveries per day. Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE
6. Symptoms appear mild in children
Only 3% of cases occur in people under 20, and mortality under 40 is only 0.2%. Symptoms are so mild in children it can go unnoticed.
7. The virus can be wiped clean
The virus can be effectively inactivated from surfaces with a solution of ethanol (62-71% alcohol), hydrogen peroxide (0.5% hydrogen peroxide) or sodium hypochlorite (0.1% bleach), in just one minute. Frequent handwashing with soap and water is the most effective way to avoid contagion.
8. Science is on it, globally
It is the age of international science cooperation. After just over a month, 164 articles could be accessed in PubMed on COVID19 or SARSCov2, as well as many others available in repositories of articles not yet reviewed. They are preliminary works on vaccines, treatments, epidemiology, genetics and phylogeny, diagnosis, clinical aspects, etc.
These articles were written by some 700 authors, distributed throughout the planet. It is cooperative science, shared and open. In 2003, with the SARS epidemic, it took more than a year to reach less than half that number of articles. In addition, most scientific journals have left their publications as open access on the subject of coronaviruses.
9. There are already vaccine prototypes
Our ability to design new vaccines is spectacular. There are already more than eight projects underway seeking a vaccine against the new coronavirus. There are groups that work on vaccination projects against similar viruses.
The vaccine group of the University of Queensland, in Australia, has announced it is already working on a prototype using the technique called “molecular clamp”, a novel technology. This is just one example that could allow vaccine production in record time. Prototypes may soon be tested on humans.
10. Antiviral trials are underway
Vaccines are preventive. Right now, the treatment of people who are already sick is important. There are already more than 80 clinical trials analysing coronavirus treatments. These are antivirals that have been used for other infections, which are already approved and that we know are safe.
One of those that has already been tested in humans is remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral still under study, which has been tested against Ebola and SARS/MERS.
Another candidate is chloroquine, an antimalarial that has also been seen to have potent antiviral activity. It is known that chloroquine blocks viral infection by increasing the pH of the endosome, which is needed for the fusion of the virus with the cell, thus inhibiting its entry. It has been demonstrated that this compound blocks the new coronavirus in vitro and it is already being used in patients with coronavirus pneumonia.
Other proposed trials are based on the use of oseltamivir (which is used against the influenza virus), interferon-1b (protein with antiviral function), antisera from people who recovered or monoclonal antibodies to neutralise the virus. New therapies have been proposed with inhibitory substances, such as baricitinibine, selected by artificial intelligence.
The 1918 flu pandemic caused more than 25 million deaths in less than 25 weeks. Could something similar happen now? Probably not; we have never been better prepared to fight a pandemic.
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Attached article information:
The attached article (Coronavirus: Ten reasons why you ought not to panic) was originally created and published by THE CONVERSATION and is republished here with permission and attribution to Ignacio López-Goñi and website theconversation.com.
[For more articles from scientists and other experts, subscribe to The Conversation’s daily newsletter.]
The Author Ignacio López-Goñi is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Navarra (Spain).
This article was originally published in Spanish
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From the Author, Ken LaRive – We in the Liberty movement have been fighting to take back this country for less than a decade, peacefully and with the love of God and country in our hearts. Our banner has been trampled on and displaced by a multitude of distractions, further eroding our nation and the cause for Liberty. And so, as we are pulled by forces we cannot fathom, powerful entities with unlimited resources stolen from our future, unaccountable trillions printed out of thin air and put on our backs as debt, we must formulate the most pitiful of all questions any patriot might ask in the final hour: Are we going to fight for our master’s tyranny, or are we going to demand the return of our civil liberties and Constitution? Are we going to choose The Banner of Liberty, or the shackles of voluntary servitude? Will it be a war for corporate profit, or a war to regain our ability to self govern, as the blood and toil of our forefathers presented to us, their children, as a gift? I fear that decision is emanate. I fear that any decision will be a hard one, but my greatest fear of all is that the decision has already been made for us.
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Read more by Ken LaRive
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Mary sometimes an article has 95% great/vital news and 5% not so good … we have to weigh that importance, and do every day. BUT if you put the word “Vaccine” in the search bar … there will be NO doubt exactly how we feel about that. Our founder Roger Landry has himself researched and written well over 100 vaccine related articles, and there are well over 1,000 on this website alone! Also if you look there ARE recent stories on “encouraging us to not fear each other”. Thanks for your comment.
I was gladdened to find a site called The Liberty Beacon. I was glad you gave us reasons not to panic. But I’m ultimately not very comforted by them, for the end of the list it’s leaning towards accepting vaccination. Many of us are concerned that this is the real point of the pandemic – mass medicalization. It’s the control that worries me more than the fear, certainly of the disease itself. I wish that you had reported intelligently on that and encouraged us to not fear each other – it’s loved ones as well as strangers now – and to resist any forced measures. It would be good to debate if mainstream medicine is the best and only way to handle this, what the media is really doing (and on whose behalf).