From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Fri Apr 18 2003 - 20:56:23 MDT
On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 ABlainey@aol.com wrote:
> Thanks to everyone that gave advise. I have decided not to panick just yet
> and have even come out of the bunker and risk it on the surface for a while
Alex, you don't need to go overboard on this -- I think the WHO has a
set of published measures that help prevent infection (things like
washing hands frequently, don't touch your face, etc.).
Now that we have the genome sequence most major medical facilities
should have a test within a few weeks, or perhaps a month or more
(worst case) based on using PCR to amplify and detect the genome.
Its a little tricky to develop a test since the coronavirus genomes
are +stranded RNA (vs. -stranded RNA or DNA) so common PCR methods
(for DNA) have to modified somewhat. [PCR for those who don't know,
stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction and it is a way to "amplify"
genomic sequences so one has enough information to look at. Kerry
Mullis won a Nobel prize in chemistry in 1993 for its development.]
Also, the figures I have seen seem to be putting the fatality rate
at between 3-4%. It isn't clear to me whether that is greater than
influenza (percentage wise), but in terms of deaths, influenza wins
hands down (something like ~30,000+ deaths a year in the U.S. vs.
0 for SARS so far).
Influenza is an orthomyxovirus whose genome is based on 8 pieces
of -stranded RNA. The fact that it has 8 pieces of RNA allows
it to mix and match with other orthomyxoviruses in various
animals (not an uncommon situation for humans to get infected
with various orthomyxoviruses from animals on farms) so it
varies from year to year -- that is why one needs to be
revaccinated every year. So influenza is much more dangerous
than SARS -- its just that the media are hyping SARS right now.
Robert
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