The New Variant

The new variant, which has been named “VUI 202012/01”, includes a genetic mutation in the “spike” protein that could be the cause of immediate and easy spread of the virus amongst people. This means, the variant that’s been identified in the UK has 17 mutations that affect the shape of the virus, including the spike protein that gives the coronavirus family their name. The cluster differs by 29 nucleotide substitutions from the original Wuhan strain. 

Research So Far

Britain has some of the most sophisticated genomic surveillance efforts in the world, which allowed scientists there to discover the variant when it might have gone unnoticed elsewhere. It\’s naïve to conclude that the variant was not already spreading widely outside Britain. Preliminary analysis suggests that it is more transmissible than previously circulating variants. There is no evidence that the variant is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality but investigations are going on to understand this better. Scientists will continually monitor this over the coming weeks and study the impact of the mutation that the virus has undergone. There is currently no evidence to suggest that the Pfizer vaccine would not protect people against the new strain.

The virus has forced us to reflect on the fragility of life. No one is safe until everyone is safe. Let\’s not stop taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. With small steps, we might be able to prevent the virus from passing on.

WHAT NEXT?

There is no shred of doubt that nations won\’t been in a lockdown again, after the devastating effects on their economies the previous time around. It would be better if we make peace with the fact that the Coronavirus is here to stay and learn to live with the virus. Look at Australia, it could avoid a major surge during the southern hemisphere winter because of much better compliance with wearing masks. Living with COVID-19 means we\’ve to ensure that everyone complies with current preventive measures including face masks, social distancing, hand washing, testing and self isolation. It also depends on shielding and supporting the most vulnerable in the society.

We have to maintain the social responsibility by building trust between governments and communities. This can be facilitated through community-based organizations, local leaders and social activists. We have to give emphasis on the social sciences, on data collection and on the translation of the findings into practice.

What if Coronavirus is just an alarm and more severe outbreaks may follow?

The conditions that may have led to the development of COVID-19 still persist in many countries. Outbreaks like these will continue to have a devastating impact on people´s health and on national economies unless we invest in strong, effective and well funded public health systems. For now, until science pulls out it\’s big guns and has a vaccine ready, we might as well spend time with our loved ones and most importantly have time for ourselves. Something the virus might be telling us behind all this chaos.

Sustainability and the World

The Brundtland Report of 1987, titled \”Our Common Future\” popularized the idea of sustainability. This document was elaborated for the United Nations in order to warn the world about the negative environmental consequences of economic development and globalization, with the aim of offering solutions to the problems. It was in January 2016 , that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – adopted in September 2015 at UN Summit, officially came into force. It aims at achieving global well being for present and future generations. Despite the fact that worldwide awareness of sustainable development has been growing over the years, actual tangible results still fall short of any of the set goals. Until and unless the 17 SDGs would become an absolute priority for individuals, organizations and governments, it would be difficult to secure the stability of our future.

We need to expand our collective consciousness that depends on the evolution of each and everyone\’s individual consciousness. The evolution of consciousness depends on the evolution of our mind – thinking, intellect and ego. Indeed, our consciousness has far more effect on our environment than we could ever imagine. We need to recreate a world founded upon cooperation rather than competition – a world, so different from today\’s divisive and exploitative culture. A simple shift is required from \”me\” to \”we\”.

Together we can

Oneness is not a philosophical idea but something essential and ordinary. This oneness is the heartbeat of life. Through our awareness, and actions born of this awareness, we can help to reconnect our world and make it beautiful. In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh : \”Real change will only happen when we fall in love with our planet. Only love can show us how to live in harmony with nature and with each other and save us from the devastating effects of environmental destruction and climate change. \” Our planet Earth is waiting and needing our participation, it has been wounded by our greed, exploitation and our forgetfulness of its sacred nature. Let us reconnect to uncover what is real and fall in love with our planet Earth- our only home.  

The Black Death

Black death, by far the deadliest pandemic in history, originated somewhere in Asia in the 14th century. It reached Crimea by the late 1340s and from there the plague spread throughout Europe and North Africa. The plague was carried by fleas that lived on and infected rats. The first outbreak of the bacterial disease wiped out almost 75 to 200 million people, or close to two-thirds of Europe\’s population then, while the recurring waves kept on affecting the parts of the world for centuries. It is surprising to learn that social distancing was also practiced at that time. Some cities were successfully able to distance themselves from others.

This pandemic caused massive upheavals in European society. From local parishioners leading religious processions to ask their god for help to people coming out on the streets to whip themselves, almost everything was tried by the people to get rid of this deadly disease.

The 1918 Flu

This flu is one of the deadliest influenza pandemics humanity has ever witnessed. It is often referred to by the misnomer \”The Spanish Flu\” because Spain was the only country at that time that did not censor its newspapers to report the spread of the disease. This pandemic is overshadowed by world war 1, but it would have killed more people, close to 100 million, than the war itself. Like the ongoing scenario with COVID-19, countries committed several mistakes that led to the massive outbreak. Philadelphia had a parade amid the pandemic and had one of the highest death rates per capita. 

Local newspapers a century ago gave an accurate account of the numbers associated with the pandemic, unlike the case with COVID-19, probably because the countries were more united at that time.

The Justinianic Plague

Fifteen hundred years ago, when the Byzantine empire was rising to dominance under Emperor Justinian I, this plague struck the city of Constantinople. Although caused by the same bacteria as the black death, the Justinianic plague was not as devastating. The war with the Sassanid Empire was also put to a temporary halt, and the emperor himself got infected with the disease.

The disease spread to other cities as well, and thousands of people fled these infected cities. The political pandering also occurred then. The mortality rate of the disease was under or over-reported by the people based on whether they supported the emperor or not.

The First Cholera Pandemic

This pandemic is also referred to as Asiatic Cholera Pandemic or, simply, Asiatic Cholera. It is known to have originated in the city of Calcutta in 1817. Although the mortality rate was not so high, the reach of it was phenomenal. It began in British India and spread throughout southeast Asia to the Middle East, Eastern Africa, and the Mediterranean Coast over time and affected almost every country in Asia.

At the time, the opinions of the scientists differed as to what is the cause of this disease, but the medical community now believes cholera to be an exclusively human disease transmitted through warm fecal contaminated river waters and contaminated food.

The Hand Sanitizer

Sanitizers with more than 60% alcohol can instantly disinfect the skin provided it is rubbed until dried. A highly concentrated solution of sanitizer when poured onto Coronavirus disables the hydrophobic effect, which enables the lipids to hold together, and gives the molecules room to move around. This is more like a crushing effect and happens in a matter of 2-5 seconds.

The Soap

A single drop of any kind of soap contains quadrillions of molecules called amphiphiles. These amphiphiles resemble lipids that form the shell of the virus. When soap comes in contact with the virus, the tails of amphiphiles compete with lipids for space, and, as a result, the outermost layer of the virus breaks. The amphiphiles then form a layer around particles of the virus, and these layered particles can be simply washed away with water.

Hand Sanitizer vs Soap

Scientists recommend washing hands with soap and water whenever possible as it also removes the dirt particles that could otherwise hide the virus. Also, it is highly convenient to cover your hands in soap and water. Of course, sanitizers are more convenient to use on the go, and, therefore, should be used when one doesn\’t have access to the sink. Sanitizers, however, are ineffective if too little is used or wiped off before drying up. Either of the two is effective in killing the novel Coronavirus, but I would recommend that you wash your hands if you have access to the sink.

\”We socialize, therefore, we are. \” This phrase is apt for humans. We have always been a social being. Since the time we were hunter-gatherers, having trusted relationships increased our chances of survival. But now, since, we have been behind closed doors for months, not only do we face economic recession but also a social one as well. The decline in our social interaction might have brought a change in our mental and physical health. This change, and the collapse in our social contacts, can be termed as Social Recession.

The Cause

Social contact is a key component of our growth and humans cannot survive on their own. The condition in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, are the social determinants of health. Social connection is the fuel that helps us address the challenges in our lives and helps us to come out of our cocoons.

But when these connections are threatened, a cascade of stress hormones is triggered that produce well-orchestrated physiological changes such as increased heart rate, increased muscle tension, and thickening of the blood, and together they are called the fight-or-flight response, which has evolved as a survival mechanism enabling us to cope with physical and psychological threats. A recent study published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews revealed that people who are more socially isolated have higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen (a soluble protein that helps blood to clot), both of which are associated with chronic inflammation and poor physical and mental health.

Be advised

If the prevalence rates of social isolation and loneliness remain elevated, such changes are more likely to lead to a greater public health burden in the longer term. Economic slowdowns are easily measured, but it\’s difficult to quantify social recession. As people around the world retreat behind closed doors and sever connections with others, the damage it causes could be no less profound and long-lasting. It\’s high time that we acknowledge this problem. It\’s quite normal to feel anxious and lonely, but remember, we are all in this together. This too shall pass and till then, put the focus back on your self-care, eat well, exercise regularly, find ways to calm yourself, follow your hobbies, meditate and most importantly Relax.

Threat is serious

WHO in its recent report shows a fivefold increase in cyber attacks. Since the outbreak, data shows that every country in the world has seen at least one COVID-19 themed attack, and the volume of attacks seems to be increasing as fear and desire for information grows. Millions of targeted phishing messages, seen globally every day, roughly include 60,000 COVID-19 related malicious attachments or URLs. Attackers are trying to impersonate established entities like the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Health to hack into inboxes.

What can be done?

We should be prepared for a COVID-like global cyber pandemic that has the potential to spread faster and further than a virus, with an equal or greater economic impact. Businesses have to establish a culture of robust cyber hygiene, by providing appropriate resources to the workforce to manage access and monitor activity on critical assets. Governments can address cybersecurity in the post-pandemic world by working together to adjust national frameworks, increase international cooperation, and unify awareness campaigns. No one is immune to a cyber incident or one “bad click.” We must increase awareness at all ages and levels, regardless of industry. Our \”New Normal\” isn’t just about fighting the infection in every possible way, it’s about preventing such disgraceful incidents entailing it, for a cyber pandemic is probably as inevitable as a future pandemic.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has renewed the interests of scientists and researchers to look more deeply into the “spillover” of disease from animals to humans. \”Zoonosis\” is the term which precisely describes the passing of an infection in such a manner. What triggered the outbreak is still unknown, but scientists believe that this infection was passed from bats to humans through an intermediary animal, a pangolin, possibly. There are a number of diseases that have spilled over from animals to humans including Ebola in Africa, Marburg in Europe, Hendra virus in Australia and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), coronavirus and Nipah virus in East Asia. Scientists and researchers have been warning for a very long time that ongoing disturbance of species through human activities and climate change can raise the risk of pandemics. Through this article, I want to make my readers aware of the fact that \”Yes\” climate change and biodiversity loss can, in future, pose a threat of pandemic so fatal as to wipe half of Earth\’s population.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are some major factors that have left majority of animals no choice but to look for an environment that’s more suitable for their needs. Data from various studies show that more than 20,000 species are already on the move because of changing climatic conditions. These species are, in general, moving towards Earth’s poles at phenomenal speeds: land animals at the speed of 10 miles (16 km) per decade whereas marine species at 45 miles (72 km) per decade. Change in climatic conditions leads to change in rainfall levels, and this in turn is forcing these species to make such a move. This phenomenon is making animal-human interaction more probable and, as a result, facilitating zoonotic diseases. The link between climate change and emergence of infectious diseases appears to be crystal clear, prima facie, but a great deal of research still needs to be done in order to establish stronger grounds for such plausibility. A study conducted on Hendra Virus, a disease that can pass from flying foxes to humans through horses and that has a fatality rate of 50-75%, suggests that there could be a possible link between climate change and disease spillover. It emphasizes that climate change could expand the geographical range of flying foxes southwards. This expansion would again make animal-human interaction more probable.

People around the globe are concerned more about vector-borne diseases, diseases that are spread by insects, such as dengue, malaria. Numerous studies have been conducted to measure the impact of such diseases, and several forecasts have been done which show that almost an additional 1 billion people will be hit by vector borne diseases by 2080. Very few studies of such a kind have been conducted on zoonotic diseases, and this has made the scientists to worry even more. There is one thing which is clear, zoonotic diseases have the potential to cause pandemics in the future, and this very potential correlates with the extent of animal-human interactions. The frequency and fatality of such pandemics are only going to increase in the future, if we do not keep a check on our actions. The choices we make today are somehow going to determine whether the future generations will suffer or thrive, so ultimately we, being the key players in this game of butterfly effect, will have to choose wisely.

Moderna Inc’s mRNA-1273

mRNA-1273 was developed by Moderna based on prior studies of related coronaviruses such as those that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
Recently, scientists reported that the vaccine boosted up people’s immunity just as it was expected to do. The participants who were injected the vaccine back in March (early phase) showed very positive results with no serious side-effects. The vaccine is currently in its second phase of trial, and is expected to reach its third and final phase with 30,000 participants, on July 27.

The Russian Candidate

The Russian vaccine candidate, being developed by Gamalei national research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology in partnership with ministry of defence began its phase 1 human trials on June 18. The researchers have reported that the vaccine is working as it should and producing antibodies.

Numerous reports last week claimed that Russia has completed the human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, but these reports did not specifically mention that only the phase 1 has been completed. phase 2 was supposed to start on July 14, and there’s still no clarity regarding phase 3 trials.

Oxford University\’s ChAdOx1 nCoV-19

Researchers at the University of Oxford believe that their vaccine candidate is capable of providing \”double protection\” against this deadly virus. Blood samples taken from the volunteers show the development of antibodies and T-Cells. This discovery is a breakthrough for the antibodies fade away in months while T-Cells stay for a year or so. T-Cells directly kill infected host cells, activate other immune cells, produce cytokines and regulate the immune response.
This vaccine is in its third phase of trials that means it is absolutely \”on track\”, and could be available as early as September. \”Nobody can put final dates… things might go wrong but the reality is that by working with a big pharma company, that vaccine could be fairly widely available around September and that is the sort of target they are working on,\” David Carpenter, Chairman of the Berkshire Research Ethics Committee, said.

Bharat Biotech\’s COVAXIN

COVAXIN has been developed by Bharat Biotech India in collaboration with ICMR’s National institute of Virology. It is an “inactivated” vaccine made by using particles of the COVID-19 virus that were killed, making them unable to infect or replicate.
Although ICMR plans to make this vaccine available to public by August 15, bioethics experts have questioned how all three phases of testing for a vaccine candidate yet to even begin human trials can be crunched into a timeframe of a month. The predetermined release date of yet to be clinically tested vaccine is an extremely ambitious dive by an organization which has a reputation to go by the books. Even though COVID-19 pandemic is a classic example of “Hannibal Ante Portas” which calls for an immediate defence, it is essentially important that ICMR thoroughly follows the rule book as it has a “fail-safe” reputation to maintain. ICMR is not only our first line of defence, but also the last, and even the slightest crack can crumble the hopes that 1.3 billion hearts carry with them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52952686