Questions tagged [coronavirus]

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in humans and animals. They are named for the crown-like spike proteins on their surface.

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Could an exposure to a small amount of viruses result in an easier course of the disease?

According to Gunther Hartmann (Professor of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Bonn) cited in this article (Süddeutsche Zeitung, in German) Die Zahl der Erreger hat bei ...
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Are specific primers or detectors, or both, used in COVID-19 tests?

I am trying to learn about the rRT-PCR testing procedure used to test for COVID-19, but I am slightly confused on one point. Are highly specific primers used with a non-specific detector, or are ...
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Difference between infectivity and cell fusion abillity of Virus. (COVID 19)

I'm a computational chemist who have interest in COVID-19. As a physical chemist, I'm lack of basic knowledge for biology. What is the difference between 'infectivity' and 'membrane fusion activity'?...
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What is the probablity that SARS-CoV-2 will mutate? [closed]

In many epidemic/pandemic situations, a lot of time the pathogen in question will mutate. For reference, this is the definition of mutation taken from Wiki:- A mutation is an alteration in the ...
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What are the implications of tigers being susceptible to SARS-CoV-2?

It was recently reported that a handful of tigers and lions tested positive at the Bronx Zoo for SARS-CoV-2 (see here and here). Does this imply that the SARS-CoV-2 strain in humans mutated into a ...
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What keeps a virus from spreading from one species to the other, when it can infect both?

I have read that there have been cases where animals (some tigers, also a dog) have been infected by Covid-19 through a human host. At the same time, I read that currently it is deemed unlikely that ...
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What current evidence supports the use of hydroxycloroquine used as a prophylactic for (corona)-viral infections?

I've also read comments from doctors suggesting that hydroxychloroquine has been studied in the past as a potential prophylactic for viral infections. A search through US clinical trials yields many ...
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what are the factors that can be used to compute the probability of getting the coronavirus?

Our team and I work on a project for the Lauzhack 2020 and to achieve this work, we need to determine some factors that can tell us what is the probability of contracting the coronavirus. Is there ...
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How can I classify the 3 clades(S, G, V) of the coronavirus that are found on GISAID?

On GISAID they classified the corona using 4 clades(S, G, V, Other). I would like to know exactly how these genomes were classified for my research. So how do you classify a coronavirus genome as ...
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Why is the GenBank entry for the genomes of RNA viruses like coronavirus written as DNA?

The reference genome in GenBank of the sars coronavirus from Wuhan is written in the following format: attaaaggtttataccttcc (The first 20 nucleotides) ...
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Are there COVID-19 citizen science projects to compare habits and outcomes?

I've seen some "citizen science" projects for coronavirus that are not really collaborations, but simply requests for processing time. Are there any "real" projects where people who have gotten their ...
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Is touching or inhaling 70% isopropyl alcohol dangerous to humans?

I bought 99% isopropyl alcohol and made 70% alcohol + 30% water in small spraying bottles as a disinfectant. I also read that this solution is safe and recommended by Apple for cleaning iPhones. My ...
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Why there is no ELISA for SARS-CoV-2?

As far as I know, SARS-CoV-2 tests currently used worldwide are real-time RT-PCR. Why there is no ELISA for SARS-CoV-2? Compared to PCRs, ELISA is: Way cheaper; Way faster; Does not require trained ...
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Does the Abbott ID NOW coronavirus test return a positive result if you take it while you're still in the incubation period? [closed]

It seems like Abbott's ID Now test works by detecting the virus directly as opposed to checking for antibodies? If the test result is negative does that mean you don't have the virus? Or does that not ...
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How does SARS-CoV-2 spread from cell to cell in the lung? [closed]

This virus exits the cell using exocytosis after assembling golgi vesicles which contain the virus by fusing with the cell membrane. In the case of infected pneumocytes, I imagine that the virus ...
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Can someone donate antibodies? [closed]

Consider the following scenario: Person A has been infected with some virus (for example, SARS-CoV-2) Person A has recovered From this scenario, I assume Person A has managed to develop antibodies ...
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A poor man's COVID-19 vaccine? [closed]

If person A is infected (COVID-19) and person B is not, could the following work as a vaccination? Person A exhales (coughs?) into a a transparent bag. The bag is radiated for a long time with a ...
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What are the difficulties/challenges against developing a coronavirus vaccine?

Multiple groups of scientists are trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine but they are not yet being fruitful. What challenges or difficulties are there in the process that slowing down and/or causing ...
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is it possible to visualize coronavirus infection and what type of assays are routinely used?

There has been some electron micrograph of SARS-COV-2 published; but are there any fluorescent/ confocal-fluorescent image of them? or is it possible to do them? I know that viruses are usually much ...
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SARS-CoV virus stability at low temperatures [closed]

For SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV1 this study published in NEJM by a NIAID team was done at a temperature of 21-23°C (see the Methods section in their supplemental material). What's known about virus ...
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How many SARS-CoV-2 viruses in circulation at the moment? Mass? [closed]

How many SARS-CoV-2 viruses are in circulation at the moment? And what is their total mass? To clarify: if there are 10 000 viruses on average in an infected human and 100 000 humans are infected the ...
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COVID-19: size, real image [duplicate]

I'm an electronics engineer. I was thinking about how to detect the presence of COVID-19: Obtain the sample. Increment image/sample, (I need the real size to determine increment/magnification) ...
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Reliability of SARS-CoV-2 tests - false negatives [closed]

This is about the entire process from sample collection through transportation to lab processing and assessment. In Canada, we are seeing about one COVID-19 test in 10 produce a positive result. Can ...
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Could old-style "inoculation" be used against COVID-19? [closed]

Before the first vaccination was invented, for smallpox, there already was a technique called inoculation or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variolation. Unlike vaccination where dead or modified ...
Nadav Har'El's user avatar
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How does the immune system distinguish between a TH1 and a TH2 response?

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read my post. I know that naive T-Cells (T0) can be induced to become mature T-Helper cells (TH1 or TH2) by induction with either IL2 or IL4. IL2+ TH0 -> TH1 ...
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If every person between 15-60 had an immune system equal to the healthiest people, would this affect the spread of coronavirus? [closed]

Has anyone calculated the speed or breadth of the spread of something like coronavirus (or any cold, flu, airborne pathogen) based on how well the population can master the virus with their immune ...
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Are there any documented instances of coronaviruses being directly transmitted from bats to humans?

Many human coronaviruses have ancestral host origins in species of bat. However, all instances I am aware of identified other animals as intermediary vectors: SARS-CoV: Human ← Palm Civet / Raccoon ← ...
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Would "Pox Parties" of the young/healthy (while isolating the vulnerable) be an effective method of combating the COVID-19 outbreak?

It is commonly said that most people, especially the healthiest would only develop mild syndromes. Therefore, shouldn’t we, instead of confining all the population as a whole proceed as follows : ...
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Virus viability on fabrics

According to the article How long do viruses live on surfaces: Plastic, stainless steel, fabric, and more: With fabrics, it's unclear how long viruses can last. But generally, they tend to last ...
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Can you be immune to a coronavirus?

Can one be immune to the new coronavirus? Another question is what is the exact definition of "being immune". Does it mean that even when the virus enters my system, it cannot multiply?
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Would symptoms differ from eating virus contaminated food versus breathing in virus?

Would symptoms differ from eating virus contaminated food versus breathing in virus? The COVID-19 causes respiratory symptoms and I guess that is because people are breathing in virus droplets in ...
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Can you be infected by two coronaviruses at once?

E.g. could you be infected by COVID-19 as well as a different strand of coronaviruses (e.g. those that circulate in the population every flu season)?
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If the covid-19 appeared once, could it reappear anytime?

Governments are imposing confinement measures on their populations, trusting that if there is no more transmission the virus will die out. But since this coronavirus appeared a first time, what could ...
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Is COVID-19 more deadly than swine flu?

I have a question about the novel coronavirus and swine flu. How do the death rates compare between the two diseases? How do the transmissions and rate of transmission compare? Was a vaccine ...
apollowebdesigns's user avatar
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Why does increased humidity decrease coronavirus "survival"?

All news I can see scientist telling that the SARS-CoV-2 virus survive more in cold and dry weather. I can understand cold as hot weather will desiccate virus, but why dry weather. Would not dry ...
murmansk's user avatar
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L strain of SARS-CoV-2?

Early in the epidemic, Chinese researchers (Jian Lu, et al,) reported in the National Science Review earlier this month that there was an aggressive more virulent L strain compared to the older S ...
user28843's user avatar
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What differentiates diseases like Covid-19 and Polio from the common cold

Why are vaccines required for our body's immune system to destroy viruses that cause the likes of Covid-19 or Polio, while viruses that cause the common-cold are self-limiting (go away on their own)? ...
jyp11711's user avatar
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Where can I find the genome of the L-strain coronavirus and the S-strain coronavirus?

I read an interesting article about two strains of the coronavirus: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2236544-coronavirus-are-there-two-strains-and-is-one-more-deadly/ I would like to know how the ...
yuval's user avatar
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Why don't anti-viral drugs like "Acyclovir" work against coronaviruses?

I've always used Acyclovir to treat cold sores, why doesn't it work on other viruses? How do coronaviruses differ from herpesviruses?
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Why are victims of Covid19 being wrapped in plastic?

Several articles describe the unique ways Covid-19 patients are being buried. For example, in this Reuters article about Israel: These included decontaminating and hermetically wrapping bodies in ...
CodyBugstein's user avatar
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1 answer
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What gene targets associated with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have been identified so far?

One hypothesis for which we have some supporting evidence is that the new virus (SARS-CoV-2) "enters human cells through an interaction with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2" see here. Although it is ...
mrb's user avatar
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Could blood transfusions from COVID19 surviver be worth researching as a possible form of treatment

As a general viral immunology question (rather than seeking personal medical advice). Would a blood transfusion from a COVID19 surviver to a sufferer be worth researching as a possible form of ...
andrew pate's user avatar
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Can COVID-19 affect a person a second time?

I keep hearing people are recovering from COVID-19 virus. Is there any chance that same person can become infected with COVID-19 for a second time?
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Viral mutation rates and replication

TL;DR What's the relationship between the following? Mutation rates (expressed as "mutations per year" for a virus like e.g. COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). E.g. this article mentions "The rate ...
Amelio Vazquez-Reina's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
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How is the protease inhibited by lopinavir different in SARS-CoV-2 compared to SARS-CoV?

The protease inhibitor lopinavir, originally developed as a cure against AIDS and HIV, has been shown efficient against SARS Coronavirus SARS-CoV. Dayer M R, Taleb-Gassabi S, Dayer M S. Lopinavir; ...
David Jonsson's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
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How does sunlight affect the longevity of SARS-CoV-2 on surface?

UV radiation is known to degrade most viruses rather quickly. How does the UV radiation from sunlight affect the longevity of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces. Of particular interest to me is the virus' ...
Cort Ammon's user avatar
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Is Covid-19 likely to mutate into a deadlier form?

When the Spanish influenza hit in 1918, it struck in two waves. The first wave was typical for a flu virus, targetting mainly elderly people, but the second wave was far deadlier and killed far more ...
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Does a higher body temperature slow the corona virus down?

The corona virus appearantly does not like high temperature: High Temperature and High Humidity Reduce the Transmission of COVID-19 Also it seems that higher body temperatures helps the immune system ...
Andy's user avatar
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Is the CDC's reported drop today in COVID-19 cases by date of diagnosis meaningful?

I was waiting with bated breath for the CDC update on cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. by date of onset. To my eyes this looks like absolutely wonderful news - that it means that the exponential growth ...
Mike Serfas's user avatar
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Using decoy proteins to treat viral illness

As a non-biologist, my understanding is SARS-CoV-2 uses it spike protein to latch on to the ACE2 receptor on cells in order to inject its genetic material into the cell. Questions: What would happen ...
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