As a prelude to Part XXXVIII I am making a disclaimer that, first of all, I am not a COVID-19 expert, nor do I pretend to be. I am more of a reporter with a science background (especially in the field of biology with 41 years of teaching junior high, high school, and college). I also would like to address another issue at this time. In an earlier essay I made an opinion statement in which I said that I was becoming more and more convinced that the COVID virus was a product of artificial selection rather than the result of natural selection. I have read one article that suggests that that is not true but only one. Apparently not too much has been written on that subject. Having said that, I still leave the possibility of man-made open and I am aware of the idea that the virus is thought to have first appeared in bats.
Why certain COVID patients die
Continuing on with the topic of coronavirus (since there really is only one other hot topic (the U. S. election in which I will not get embroiled), I would like to address the topic of why some people are asymptomatic, some become only mildly sick, and others die. 0bviously, genetics plays a part somehow, someway. Advancing age, certain predisposed conditions (i.e. diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, etc…)are factors. Ten percent of nearly 1,000 COVID-19 people who developed life threatening pneumonia had antibodies that disable interferons, important immune system proteins. In a study done recently these antibodies called autoantibodies which attack the immune system itself were absent in 663 patients that were asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms and only four, of 1,227 healthy people had the autoantibodies. In a separate study done by the same group an additional 3.5% of critically ill patients had mutations in genes that control the interferons involved in fighting viruses and there are between 500-600 such genes-in our genome. Interferons alarm and activate other virus fighting genes. One researcher compared interferon both to an alarm system and sprinkler system. Yet interferons somehow are suppressed in some people with coronavirus. Interferons are especially important in fighting viruses new to the body. (Szabo,) Personal experience proved the effectiveness of interferon a few years ago. Patients didn’t make autoantibodies in response to the virus; instead they apparently already had them but were dormant until infected with COVID-19.
COVID-19 and- Blood Vessels
As scientists have learned more about the virus they have zoomed in on the vascular system, the vast network of arteries, capillaries, and veins. In the relatively short period of time it’s been around, they have found that it warps the thin single slayer of endothelial cells (endothelium) located on the inside of blood vessels’ inner lining). In a study headed by William Li, a vascular biologist, the team compared lung tissue of people who died of COVID-19 to those who died of influenza. The lung tissue of those who died of coronavirus had nine times as many blood clots as those of the flu victims. And those in the first group exhibited severe endothelial injury.
The strange part is that the virus shreds the tiny cells from the inside out thus blocking the vessels and forming clots. Chief among the functions of the endothelium is the prevention of blood clots because of their ultra-smooth surface. . They also help to regulate blood pressure and help fend off germs. The virus enters cells via a specific receptor called the ACE2 on the cell membrane but just how it actually harms the cell (the mechanism) is not yet understood. It may attack the endothelial cells directly or begin somewhere else and the endothelium suffers collateral damage along the way as the immune system reacts and maybe sometimes overreacts. Like interferon discussed above, the endothelium alerts the body to impending danger. Ironically the very structures and processes that-normally protect us can turn against us. According to Li, the common denominator in COVID-19 patients is endothelial dysfunction. The body gets a double whammy resulting from the- system’s runaway nature resulting in extensive inflammation in the bloodstream. As the inflammation spreads, a condition known as endothealitis, blood clots all over the body, can form starving tissues and organs from oxygen. Endothelial damage also causes elevated levels of von Willebrand protein (blood clotting factor IX). Interesting enough for years I thought I was deficient in factor IX (I even wrote a paper on it for a graduate genetics class) until newer tests revealed a deficiency in factor XI resulting in hemophilia C, a somatic recessive condition. Back to the COVID-19 patients; those suffering from blood clots are now put on aspirin. (Stone)
Why some infected individuals don’t get sick
It has become extremely important to learn why some people test positive but never show any symptoms and feel fine. No one knows how many people have been infected by them. No other known virus seems to vary so much in its degree of severity even within a single family. It appears that a person’s immune system as much as anything helps to determine the severity and that means that one’s genetics plays a big part. In a study conducted in the San Francisco area involving 3ooo participants who were invited to be tested whether sick or not, 53 % of those who were positive had no symptoms. Some reports suggest that the antibody response to the virus in asymptomatic people is weaker than in people with severe symptoms which is contrary to earlier assumptions. Perhaps other parts of the immune system such as T-cells (type of white blood cell) that functions in the immune system. Lymphocytes are also known as leucocytes (Krieger).
COVID-19 Treatment
A high official at a local regional hospital says that treatment of coronavirus has evolved since the pandemic began last winter. One of the biggest changes is that clinicians now use a breathing tube as a last resort. Now they use a high flow oxygen therapy which reduces the need for ventilation and intubation, which wasn’t the right method. Another major change was the availability of the antiviral drug Rendesivir which is very effective. The FDA has approved the use of the monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab. The monoclonal antibodies soak up the virus so it can’t do what it does. Another breakthrough was the realization that not everyone needs the same treatment. Going back to the ventilators once it became known that this was not a disease just of the lungs the need for ventilators was not so great. The disease can affect many organs including the heart and brain. The use of steroids is a fifth treatment change (Watson). Not really a change in treatment strategy is the fact that hospitals are better stocked for personal protection but that is nullified by a staffing shortage and I would add, based our recent local and national news, doctor, nurse, and other health provider burnout.
The vaccines
Most everyone now is aware that the early vaccines use mRNA technology but just what is mRNA? From essay IX (organic molecules), we learned that like DNA. (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA, ribonucleic acid is composed of nucleotides that in turn are comprised of a phosphate and sugar backbone with a nitrogenous base (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine in DNA) and the base uracil in place of thymine of DNA in RNA . Unlike DNA, RNA is single stranded and has one more oxygen atom. During protein synthesis, DNA splits down the middle with each half serving as a template for manufacturing a complementary strand of mRNA (m stands for messenger). This takes place in the nucleus and is called transcription. Next during translation mRNA serves us a template to attach to free floating tRNA (transfer RNA) in the cytoplasm. Each tRNA segment contains an amino acid; tRNA molecules arrive at a ribosome (rRNA) where they join to form a polypeptide and when long enough-a protein; mRNA was first discovered in the late 1960’s but was not fully understood until the 1990’s.
The vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioN Tech and also Moderna uses a nanoparticle delivery method to contain and protect the mRNA segment. It has a lipid component. (Fats which are water insoluble. are examples of a lipid). Incidentally, nano refers to one thousand millionth (10-9). (Reuter’s staff)
According to Dr. Dan Anderson, professor of chemical engineering and health sciences at MIT, the method took years of research,
. The encapsulated mRNA package can travel through the bloodstream and reach target cells and enter cells of organs that filter blood.-liver, spleen, bone marrow, and kidneys. It enters cells by endocytosis (McManus) which refers to a process in which substances cross the cellular membrane to enter a cell. Depending on the type and size of the substance it may called phagocytosis (large particles i.e. how amebas ingest food particles), pinocytosis “cell drinking” when liquids enter a cell, and receptor mediated endocytosis which is a form of pinocytosis. (Mader)
The mRNA contains a genetic code to give our cells instructions to make a harmless piece of the “spike protein” to stimulate our immune system to make antibodies against the spike protein. Once the mRNA instructions are inside the immune cells, cells use them to make the protein piece, Then the cells break down (degrade) the mRNA in 15-30 minutes. Our immune system recognizes the protein and produces antibodies to protect us. “The speed is a reflection of years of work that went before” Dr. Fauci told a news conference. Billions of company and government funding helped to speed up the process. It starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Pick the right protein to target and the body turns into a mini vaccine factory. Fifteen years ago Dr. Drew Weissman’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania figured out how to let a lab grown RNA segment slip undetected into cells. Other researchers added a fat coating to help it enters cells and start producing the right protein. (For a more complete summary of protein synthesis see essay IX). In the meantime, a group of researchers headed by Dr. Barney at the NIH figured out the right target in the immune system. Surface proteins (receptor sites) have a certain shape and thus the nanoparticle has to match that shape. Choose the wrong isomer (my term) (alternate shape) and the molecule can’t enter the cell (Neergard).
A word about science and how it progresses. A favorite movie of mine “Day One” about the Manhattan Project (development of the atomic bomb) illustrates how science worked very well. In the movie General Groves, obviously a military man was put in charge of the entire project. In his first meeting with the core group of scientists he encountered them sitting around kicking some ideas around. He sternly rebuked them for not working and wasting time on such an important endeavor. When they tried to tell him that is the way science works, he insisted they work in the military way. My point is that science works in slow uneven spurts not in linear fashion. Seth Borenstein in an Associated Press article a few months ago points that out in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. He says that “While the world wants flashy quick fixes for everything, especially massive threats like coronavirus and global warming . . . remind us that in science, slow and steady pays off. Science builds upon previous work with thinkers ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ as Isaac Newton put it , and it starts with basic research aimed at understanding a problem before fixing it. Nobels usually reward, years or decades after a discovery, because it can take that long to realize the implications. Slow and steady success in science has made researchers hopeful in the fight against the pandemic. The coronavirus was sequenced in a matter of weeks, testing became available quickly, and vaccines that would normally take years may be developed in a year or less, and It’s all been built on the back of basic science advances that have been developed in the past three decades.” (Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences) As an example, gene sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which allows for multiple copying of precise DNA segments won the 1993 Nobel in chemistry. (Borenstein)
Hope for the World (we’re back to science and religion)
Post Script
It has come to my attention that social media contains a lot of misinformation, false information, and in some cases outright lies and no, I’m not so naive to think this is something new or relative just to COVID-19. Let me address a couple things. For example consider the following:
Fact check: 2020 has been more deadly in the US compared with recent years
The chart, with a title “USA Deaths By Year,” has a column for the year, the number of deaths reported that year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the total U.S. population each year, and the death rate calculated from number of deaths. It says the average death rate is 0.8%, though from 2017 to 2019 the death rate is listed as 0.9%.
According to the chart — which lists the CDC, Census data and USA TODAY as sources at the bottom — in 2020 there have been 2,533,214 deaths, a population of 330,619,870, and a death rate of 0.8%. The information is dated Nov. 22.
The U.S deaths numbers from 2009 to 2018 were released by the CDC, and a USA TODAY article does list the total number of deaths and the U.S. population through 2018. The death rate is correct as listed for those years.
However, the 2019 and 2020 data is less clear. The CDC has not released official numbers for either. Provisionally it has said 2,855,000 Americans died in 2019, which does not match the chart’s total of 2,794,146. Data provided by John Hopkins Medical Center (Landeck)
ALSO
Chart comparing 2020 US death toll with previous years is flawed, uses incomplete data
Posts on social media are attempting to downplay the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using a chart that shows that the 2020 U.S. death toll hasn’t changed much from previous years.
The chart, titled “US deaths per year,” displays figures comparing deaths in the country for the last five years, ranging from just over 2.7 million in 2015 to 2.9 million in 2019. It says the toll for 2020, as of Nov. 16, is “2,487,350.” Some versions also include a whole-year projection of 2,818,527.
“People died before Covid. Amazingly the death rate hasn’t changed. How can that be with such a deadly virus????” one user wrote.
But the comparison is flawed for a few reasons. The 2020 statistics cited are not the final figures, and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that hundreds of thousands of excess American deaths are attributed to the virus this year. Lastly, it ignores that COVID-19 has killed over 290,000 Americans to-date, the highest virus death toll in the world.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The numbers listed from 2015 through 2018 are legitimate and come from the CDC. The health agency reported 2,712,630 deaths in the U.S. in 2015, 2,744,248 in 2016, 2,813,503 in 2017, and 2,839,205 in 2018.
While the final numbers for 2019 have not been released, the CDC’s provisional count for the year — 2,855,000 — comes close to the chart’s 2,900,689 figure, though it’s not clear how they reached the number.
The chart’s 2,487,350 figure leading up to the week of Nov. 16, 2020, reflects CDC data, but it’s not a complete depiction of how many Americans died in 2020.
Not only does the figure not account for the final six weeks of the year, it doesn’t represent the first few weeks, either. The weekly provisional deaths table doesn’t begin until the week ending Feb. 1, 2020. What’s more, these numbers are continuously updated due to reporting lags, which the CDC says can range from one week to eight weeks or more, depending on the jurisdiction and cause of death.
PolitiFact is regarded as one of the most reliable websites on the internet for anything politics and many newspapers and media outlets openly say they check their own facts against it before going to press. Open Secrets follows the money. We all know that money is power in Washington and Open Secrets traces it wherever it can.
For facebook readers,
How much of what you read on Facebook is carefully written and referenced from reliable sources? How trustworthy are their comments and just what are their hidden agendas? Everything I write is referenced (except for the first few essays and my sources are college textbooks) or comes from my prior training/experience as a science teacher. Read some of my past essays and judge for yourself.
Sincerely,
Larry Baumer
References
- Borenstein, S. Date unknown Nobel Prizes and OCID-19: Slow, basic science may pay off Rockford Register Star
- Krieger, L. Aug 3, 2020 Why don’t people get sick despite being infected? Rockford Register Star
- Landeck, K. Dec. 24, 2020 USA Today
- Mader, S. 2004 Biology, 8th edition McGraw /Hill New York, NY
- McManus, R, Sept. 4, 2020 Anderson Explains Role of Nanoparticles in Vaccines https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2020/09/04/anderson
- Neergard, L. Dec. 8, 2020 Years of research laid groundwork for vaccine Rockford Register Star
- Putterman, S, Dec. 11, 2020 PolitiFact
- Reuters staff Dec.5, 2020 Fact check: Lipid nanoparticles in a COVID-19 vaccine are there to transport RNA molecules http://www.reuters.com/article/uk
- Stone, W. Nov. 26, 2020 Is virus a disease of blood vessels Rockford Register Star
- Szabo, L. Nov. 15,2020 Breakthrough finding reveals why certain COID-19 patients die Rockford Register Star
- Watson, A, Nov. 29, 2020 COVID-19 treatment evolves Rockford Register Star