Q & A: What Is This Disease And Why Is It So Deadly (SARS)

Independent (UK) ^ | 4-25-2003 | Jeremy Laurance

[maestro]

Q & A: What Is This Disease And Why Is It So Deadly (SARS)

?...'Stem-cell',.....'research'...??

[NormsRevenge]

Ok, who broke the seal? (Revelations ?)

[Judith Anne]

Excellent post, but I take a small issue with the reporting here that it is not airborne. Aerosolized spread and long fomite survival equals might as well be airborne, imho. Furthermore, that is NOT a settled issue.

[Uncle George]

The "shelf life" of the sneeze droplets laden with virus is stated here to be 2 or 3 hours. WRONG!!!! Latest tests proved it lives over 24 hours on a door knob, dollar bill, counter top ect. That makes it a TERRIBLE THREAT. Other viruses die in 2 to 3 hours, it don't.

[poet]

Hmmm, my thoughts exactly.

[Bob J]

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[blam]

Virus (SARS) Can Live 24 Hours Outside Host, Study Finds

[Uncle George]

24 hour "shelf life" means this damn virus can come to us in the mail or UPS or a hundred other means, wow thats bad.

[blam]

Money too.

[Lijahsbubbe]

The possibilities are endless. Money, grocery items, pens, forget about that handshake!

I never thought of the mail!

[ex-Texan]

The report is packed with misinformation and half-truths. I do not believe the good doctor has read the latest reports about SARS.

I reiterate what one poster mentioned. A postal worker could be infected and sneeze on your mail. Ding-Dong ! You get SARS by mail. If the disease breaks loose in the USA our streets will look like ghost towns -- all those nifty service industry jobs will be gone in a flash. People will not eat out anymore and will rush into to buy groceries in large quantities.

Is anybody buying puts on retail and fast food stocks ? Are they from Asia .... ?

[blam]

"I do not believe the good doctor has read the latest reports about SARS."

We are probably as well informed as anyone else in the world on this site.

[Boogieman69]

Come on man, Asia is alot more cramped than us and I don't see any ghost towns. I can only name a handful of the 100's of people that i know that got the flu this year....A much smaller percertage would get SARS...don't go overboard ex-Texan....

[GirlShortstop]

 
Bump

[blam]

'Feeble and complacent' Sars policy attacked as virus claims more victims

By Celia Hall, Medical Editor
The Telegraph (UK)
(Filed: 25/04/2003)

The Government's policy on Sars, the potentially fatal pneumonia virus, was severely criticised yesterday as thousands of schoolchildren and students returned from the Far East and the World Health Organisation reported a further 343 cases in the past two days.

A traveller wears a mask at Heathrow Airport after returning from Beijing The virus has now killed 251 people, mainly in China and Hong Kong.

Dr Liam Fox, the shadow health secretary, called for the disease to be made "notifiable", which would mean that people could be required by law to be examined by doctors and held in hospital.

Dr Fox accused the Government of being "feeble, complacent and irresponsible" and said that existing legal powers should be used.

"All around the world Sars is causing immense alarm. Here, on the other hand, ministers' conduct would make people think that nothing serious is going on."

The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 has a number of provisions aimed at containing the spread of a serious infection which also include destroying material that have been in contact with it and a requirement on parents to keep children away from school.

The Liberal Democrats said the Government should make a statement to Parliament to say what it was doing to protect the public.

"The Government has not so far provided swift, direct information and guidance on Sars to the public," said Dr Evan Harris, health spokesman for the Lib Dems. People have had to hunt around on the internet for information on how to avoid the virus.

"People need reassurance that the Government has made adequate contingency plans for any widespread outbreak of Sars in the UK. They also need clear information on what they can do."

Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer for England, insisted that the Government was taking sufficient precautions and that all the British cases had been detected quickly.

The six British cases have all recovered and left hospital.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that the system of notification was cumbersome and old fashioned. "Doctors now phone us or e-mail us and we get an instant picture."

She said that "in the fullness of time", notification might be considered. "The idea that we should corral people returning to this country who have no symptoms would precipitate just the kind of scenario that people fear."

On Tuesday, the Department of Health advised people against travelling to Toronto, Beijing and the Chinese province of Shanxi as well as to Hong Kong and Guangdong in China but said that quarantining returning travellers from these places was not necessary at present.

"We are in very, very close daily contact with the World Health Organisation and the other countries involved and, far from being feeble or complacent, we are working very, very hard," Sir Liam said.

The position was fully supported by the British Medical Association yesterday which warned against a public panic.

"There is no reason to close the UK's borders," said Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science at the BMA.

"This is not practical as it would have to extend to all countries which have had cases, including the USA. Such a move would also stop all commerce, imports and exports like food and this would be a gross over-reaction to the threat.

"It is extremely important that the public does not panic over Sars. The Department of Health, the Health Protection Agency and the World Health Organisation are taking all appropriate steps."

Dr Julie Hall, of the WHO's Sars team, said that many of those who had died had existing health conditions and mostly were aged over 40. However, the disease has also caused deaths in younger people with no other illnesses.

"We have to work very, very quickly and there has to be an enormous global collaboration and co-operation to be able to investigate it and put control measures in place."

[Jimmyclyde]

" OH, look at me I have a bad cold!!"

Please...

The Chinese are so dirty, it's a blessing they don't bring death wherever they go....

[CyberAnt]

The samples of SARS were sent all over the world to different labs to be disected.

Only the Russian lab came back with the conclusion that this was a man-made combination of Measels and Mumps - which got out of hand.

I tend to believe this because Russia has been working with China recently and I believe they might have known about this experiment. Also, many of the labs thought this was a case where it started on animals and was transferred to humans.

[ex-Texan]

Look at This Hot From the Web:

SARS E2 Spike-protein Phylogeny

From Dr. Robert E. Lee

Enclosed are 2 .pdf file showing SARS E2-spike protein in a phylogeny with 12 other coronaviruses. The viruses in the phylogeny include:

VGL2_CVBF E2 glycoprotein precursor (Spike glycoprotein) (Peplomer protein) [Contains: Spike protein S1 (90B); Spike protein S2 (90A)]

S44241 surface protein - human coronavirus

AAF25499.1 spike glycoprotein [bovine coronavirus]

AAL80031.1 spike glycoprotein [porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus]

AAB30950.1 S=viral surface peplomer {monoclonal antibody resistant} [murine hepatitis virus MHV, Wb 1, MAR 11F/1, Peptide Mutant, 1235 aa]

VGL2_CVMJH E2 glycoprotein precursor (Spike glycoprotein) (Peplomer protein) [Contains: Spike protein S1 (90B); Spike protein S2 (90A)]

AAF97738.1 spike protein [rat sialodacryoadenitis coronavirus]

NP_828851.1 putative E2 glycoprotein precursor; putative spike glycoprotein [SARS coronavirus]

S37664 peplomeric polyprotein precursor - avian infectious bronchitis virus (strain D1466) (fragment)

AAO34396.1 spike glycoprotein [Avian infectious bronchitis virus]

S41453 spike protein - canine coronavirus

AAA46905.1 S protein [Porcine respiratory coronavirus]

BAC05493.1 peplomer protein [feline infectious peritonitis virus]

You will notice in the pictures (the phylogenies) that SARS E2 protein is not like any other animals' E2 spike protein. It is not like the other human spike protein compared either. It is its own "branch" on the coronavirus tree. SARS E2 spike protein appears related to the avian, dog, cat, pig, and rat coronavirus E2 spike proteins but is not, apparently, derived from any of these. The common ancestor of the SARS E2 spike protein also gave rise to the rat sialodacryoadenitis coronavirus spike protein. It would appear that SARS E2 spike protein and the avian infectious bronchitis viruses and feline infectious peritonitis virus and canine cornavirus as well as the porcine respiratory virus were derived from a common ancestor.

That common ancestor... whatever it is/was... also gave birth to bovine coronavirus and murine hepatitis virus.

The common ancestor of the common ancestor virus (the grandparent, if you will)... whatever that one is/was, also seems to have given birth to porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus.

That SARS E2 spike protein does not show a closer relatedness to the other human coronavirus spike protein is really surprising. SARS seems to be a real mixture of several different animal coronaviruses -- bird, dog, cat, pig, rat... and is not really closely related to other human coronaviruses.

But it is infecting humans... and shows no really close relationship to any other known human coronaviruses. It would appear that the disease SARS would show itself in serious bronchitis, peritonitis, and, perhaps, encephalomyelitis.

I selected the SARS E2 spike protein for this analysis as it is this spike protein that allows the virus to dock with cells and initiate infection. It is my thought that SARS is an FcgammaR agent as are some others of the coronavirus family. It is important that this be determined as it has direct bearing on what type of immunology is occurring in SARS. If SARS is an FcgammaR agent then it is likely possible that it is provoking an intense hyperimmune reaction in some people that would destroy the surfactin in their lungs and cause hypoxia.

Ergo ... looking like a virus cocktail (i.e. man-made)

[CyberAnt]

Bingo! "man-made"

I am convinced this is a biomed experiment which got out, and this is the reason China didn't want anybody investigating it.

I hope they know - we know - and it is going to cost them big time.