Author: from an immunologist at Johns Hopkins University.
Feeling confused as to why Corona virus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu? Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this helps. Feel free to share this to others who don’t understand…
It has to do with RNA sequencing…. I.e. genetics.
Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year… you get immunity two ways…through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot.
Novel viruses, come from animals…. the WHO tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1) (birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once, one of these animal viruses mutates, and starts to transfer from animals to humans… then it’s a problem, Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity.. the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it so, we can’t fight it off.
Now…. sometimes, the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human, for years it’s only transmission is from an infected animal to a human before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human… once that happens..we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, thats what decides how contagious, or how deadly it’s gonna be..
H1N1 was deadly….but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. It’s RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too.
Fast forward.
Now, here comes this Coronavirus… it existed in animals only, for nobody knows how long…but one day, at an animal market, in Wuhan China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person… But here is the scary part…. in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability, “slippery”
This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity). Took off like a rocket. And this was because, Humans have no known immunity…doctors have no known medicines for it.
And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus, changed itself in such a way the way that it causes great damage to human lungs..
That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1 or any other type of influenza…. this one is slippery AF. And it’s a lung eater…And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain s, and strain L….which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.
We really have no tools in our shed, with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places has helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.
Factoid: Henry VIII stayed in his room and allowed no one near him, till the Black Plague passed…(honestly…I understand him so much better now). Just like us, he had no tools in his shed, except social isolation…
And let me end by saying….right now it’s hitting older folks harder… but this genome is so slippery…if it mutates again (and it will). Who is to say, what it will do next.
Be smart folks… acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now.
#flattenthecurve. Stay home folks… and share this to those that just are not catching on
Covid – The Virus and the Vaccine
This info below are some notes from Reading I have been doing.
Reading Reference Links
https://www.phgfoundation.org/briefing/rna-vaccines
Bullet Points
- Covid 2 is the virus that caused Covid-19
- Virus is protein with bad stuff inside
- Virus hijack living cells to spread
- When corona virus finds a suitable cell, it injects a strand of RNA that contains the entire corona virus RNA
- The corona virus suppresses the immune system and copies itself
- NSP1 Covid 19 protein slows down the infected cells making of its own protein. This causes the infected cell to make more Covid proteins and stops the infected cells ability to assemble antiviral proteins that could stop the virus.
- CoronaVirus is named after the crown of protein spikes covering their outer membrane
- Virus’s are dead. Need to attach to something that makes proteins. Human cells make proteins all the time.
- B Cells make and release antibodies, these anti bodies attach to the corona virus protein spikes, and make it no longer sticky. The big eater Macrophage (White blood cells) patrol around and look for things with antibodies on, and eat them up.
- T cells are the feet on the street looking for broken human cells, and eats those. Normally broken cells are dead, or dying or infected Non normal human cells.
- T and B cells stick around after a battle for days, weeks even years in cause this enemy which it has learned about and defeated ever returns.
- Vaccines gets the T and B cells ready ahead of time to know this enemy before you have it. That way if you contract the virus’s have have a prepared army waiting, and the battle is easily won.
- RNA is a virus’s equivalent to human DNA.
- RNA Vaccines are supposed to be faster and cheaper to produce than Whole an Part virus vaccines as the human is the growing vessel, and you don’t actually have a deadly virus being put in you.
Vaccine Types
- Using the whole live or dead virus and injecting that into the body to activate the T and B cells to start fighting. Things that can go wrong are the virus going rouge and completely taking down the human. West Africa is having this issue with Polio vaccines right now.
- Using part of the virus, for example NSP1 and let the body know it and build up T and B Cells. Since its not the whole virus, there is no danger of it taking hold. By itself NSP1 is pretty useless. But NSP1 is also the key for the virus to start to work. So if the body can destroy NSP1 on contact, theoretically the whole virus would never have a chance if treated before hand with a NSP1 vaccine.
- Genetic Vaccines is injecting the RNA of a protein of the virus into the body so your body makes disease fighting antigens of it. I don’t understand this one much, but seems like you are sending the design of part of a virus so the body can see its bad, and build defenses against the virus. Making you immune to it. To me it almost sounds like your body could start to think the virus is safe and no longer fight it.
Your Blood
What is in your Blood
Blood has red blood cells made in your bone marrow, white blood cells which aid in creating antibody’s and fighting disease, plasma which is the liquid that carries everything made up of all sorts of stuff like water, proteins, sugar, fats, vitamins. Finally there are platelets which stick to stuff and does things like stop bleeding.
Antigens and Antibodies
- Antigens are on your red blood cells
- Antibodies (protective protein) are in your plasma
https://www.britannica.com/science/blood-group/The-importance-of-antigens-and-antibodies
