COVID-19 Health and Preparedness - Strictly Moderated

[Brat]

I heard a theory as to why children rarely have a serious case of Covid19: they receive vaccines recently, particularly the polio vaccine. The speaker said that it has been many years since older adults have received that vaccine and older adults need stronger versions of any vaccine for it to be effective because the ability to generate antibodies wanes with age.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I heard a theory as to why children rarely have a serious case of Covid19: they receive vaccines recently, particularly the polio vaccine. The speaker said that it has been many years since older adults have received that vaccine and older adults need stronger versions of any vaccine for it to be effective because the ability to generate antibodies wanes with age.

Interesting, and at least plausible on its face.

It should be fairly easy to validate that, based on adults who kept up with boosters, and those who travel a lot and need additional vaccines against diseases not found in our countries but common elsewhere. But unfortunately it may be a while before there is any bandwidth in the medical research community for those types of longitudinal studies.

 

[Aerides]

I heard a theory...

mod note: For this thread in particular, but also in general on Covid, please cite theories with links to reputable sources.

 

[audreyh1]

I would like a source.

I’ve had several vaccines administered within the last few years for various reasons.

 

[Brat]

I heard a theory as to why children rarely have a serious case of Covid19: they receive vaccines recently, particularly the polio vaccine. The speaker said that it has been many years since older adults have received that vaccine and older adults need stronger versions of any vaccine for it to be effective because the ability to generate antibodies wanes with age.

For those who wanted the source of my comment:

EXCLUSIVE: Can an Oral Polio Vaccine Help Stop the Coronavirus? | Amanpour and Company

 

[harley]

Well, I'm not sure about his medical credentials, but his brothers Ernest and Julio make a mighty fine wine.

 

[RAE]

Some new info. out today on how the virus spread from person to person on a cruise ship. It appears that close contact with another person for a period of time is necessary to facilitate spread from person to person. Here is a link to the paper, and a quote:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.09.20059113v1

"Infection among passengers after Feb 6 was limited to those who stayed in the same stateroom with an infected passenger. Infections in crew members peaked on Feb 7, suggesting significant transmission among crew members after quarantine on Feb 5. Conclusions: We infer that the ship central air conditioning system did not play a role, i.e. the long-range airborne route was absent in the outbreak. Most transmission appears to have occurred through close contact and fomites."

 

[cathy63]

Some new info. out today on how the virus spread from person to person on a cruise ship. It appears that close contact with another person for a period of time is necessary to facilitate spread from person to person. Here is a link to the paper, and a quote:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.09.20059113v1

"Infection among passengers after Feb 6 was limited to those who stayed in the same stateroom with an infected passenger. Infections in crew members peaked on Feb 7, suggesting significant transmission among crew members after quarantine on Feb 5. Conclusions: We infer that the ship central air conditioning system did not play a role, i.e. the long-range airborne route was absent in the outbreak. Most transmission appears to have occurred through close contact and fomites."

Very interesting. Back during the quarantine, I had seen some info about how the ship's air conditioning recirculates inside air separately for each stateroom and doesn't mix air between rooms. I think the purpose of that design is mainly to allow each cabin to have its own thermostat, but it seems like it should help prevent transmission of disease as well. I wonder if we'll see more similar systems deployed in new land-based buildings in the future.

I'd also very much like to know more about how likely fomite transmission is for this disease. I really hope someone is studying that as well. It'd be great to know if all the obsessive sanitizing is actually helping to slow transmission of Covid-19 or if we're just preventing some of the usual noro- and rotavirus cases (which is also a fine outcome).

 

[EveryLady]

Very interesting. Back during the quarantine, I had seen some info about how the ship's air conditioning recirculates inside air separately for each stateroom and doesn't mix air between rooms. I think the purpose of that design is mainly to allow each cabin to have its own thermostat, but it seems like it should help prevent transmission of disease as well. I wonder if we'll see more similar systems deployed in new land-based buildings in the future.

I'd also very much like to know more about how likely fomite transmission is for this disease. I really hope someone is studying that as well. It'd be great to know if all the obsessive sanitizing is actually helping to slow transmission of Covid-19 or if we're just preventing some of the usual noro- and rotavirus cases (which is also a fine outcome).

It appears the authors could have addressed the role of fomites. The quarantine began on February 5th and to my recall the Americans were among the first to be evacuated which appears to have started around February 17th.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/16/asia...mond-cruise-us-evacuation-intl-hnk/index.html

So if primarily (or actually only) cabin mates became infected after the beginning of the quarantine doesn't that mean neither the air handling system or fomites on dishes etc. handled by the crew played a large role?

Fomites from the cabin mate could have been the vector, I suppose.

 

[audreyh1]

Fomites from the cabin mate could have been the vector, I suppose.

Well, if someone is sharing a cabin with an infected person, they can be infected directly by just being near them for a while.

 

[cathy63]

It appears the authors could have addressed the role of fomites. The quarantine began on February 5th and to my recall the Americans were among the first to be evacuated which appears to have started around February 17th.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/16/asia...mond-cruise-us-evacuation-intl-hnk/index.html

So if primarily (or actually only) cabin mates became infected after the beginning of the quarantine doesn't that mean neither the air handling system or fomites on dishes etc. handled by the crew played a large role?

Fomites from the cabin mate could have been the vector, I suppose.

The thing that's throwing me off is the authors of the paper said "Most transmission appears to have occurred through close contact and fomites." So apparently they do think that contaminated surfaces are a likely transmission medium. I agree with you though, that if they were a major cause it seems like a lot more people unrelated to the infected group should have gotten ill during the quarantine.

It also makes sense to me that it would be harder to catch a lower respiratory infection like Covid-19 from a contaminated surface than it is to catch an upper respiratory infection like the common cold that way. But I don't really know enough about it, so I might be way out in left field here. Anyway, I think it would help people and governments figure out what the rules for public spaces should be going forward if they could get more information on this point.

 

[Rianne]

Well, I'm not sure about his medical credentials, but his brothers Ernest and Julio make a mighty fine wine.

The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) was co-founded and is directed by Robert C. Gallo, M.D., the eminent scientist who became world famous in 1984 when he co-discovered that HIV was the cause of AIDS and developed the HIV blood test.