Questions tagged [sars-cov-2]
SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name given by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses to the virus that causes the disease Covid-19 or coronavirus disease 2019.
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How does Omicron rank among the most contagious diseases?
I have read claims that the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is:
the seventh most contagious disease (I don't remember the source)
the second most contagious disease only after measles
the most ...
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Can a RT-PCR test claim 100% sensitivity and specificity?
A recent RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 from a private laboratory lists the test's sensitivity and specificity as 100%. The test certificate lists this next to the result:
Ref. value/Норма
Negative (...
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How often is SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in plasma, for patients otherwise diagnosed?
I'm curious how sensitive the earliest retrospective diagnoses for SARS-CoV-2 (in China) might be. According to the paper which put the earliest case to December 1, 2019 that retrospective diagnosis ...
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Tissue sample testing for Sars-CoV-2 spike protein
There are readily available antibody tests that help determine if the human body has been exposed to the Sars-CoV-2 virus or exposed to a vaccine that generates antibodies to a subset of the actual ...
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If you've already been infected with SARS-CoV-2, do the vaccines cause fewer side effects?
Assuming that I had Covid-19 not so long ago. My body should have produced some type of antibodies to defend against the infection*. If I now get one of the vaccines, would it be more likely that ...
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Can mRNAs modify our DNA (publication misunderstanding)?
I am a bit confused about a publication (few month old) which seems to say that RNA can modify our DNA. The publication is the following one.
Unfortunately, I am not a medical expert (and even more in ...
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Would a SARS-CoV-2 infection disrupt the blood-brain barrier, leaving the brain more vulnerable to drugs taken simultaneously with the infection?
According to some studies[1], there is some evidence that the virus could cross the BBB. Is that is the case, does that mean that it would weaken the barrier allowing potentially neurotoxic drugs to ...
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Regarding Covid-2 Spike Antibody Test [closed]
Is the data regarding the level ranges and their respective interpretations for different covid antibody level tests available online?
Let's say a person X wants to interpret the results of his Covid ...
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Is there a good recent review on the treatment options for COVID19?
I am looking for a summary/review of all the treatment options that have been studied for COVID19?
The British medical journal is updating a tremendously helpful ressource (https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj....
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Could SARS-COV-2 antibodies disappear 16 months after infection
What is the possibility, based on current medical knowledge, that SARS-COV-2 antibodies are no longer present after 16 months?
How would this compare to what we know about the immune response to other ...
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How many protein molecules are being referred to in "there is a protein on the end of each spike of the sars-cov-2 virus"?
What are the senses of 'spike protein' in the context of sars-cov-2? Please give me an idea of how many 'spike proteins' in each sense there would be per spike, and per virus, to help me get an idea ...
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How is the decision for recommending a vaccine reached
There is an ongoing discussion about the use of the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine (Vaxzevria) in Europe.
Some countries like Germany restrict the use of this vaccine, some - like Austria - do not.
How ...
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What is the minimum air temperature that can kill SARS-CoV-2 instantaneously?
I found this paper that talked about an air filtration system that heats up air to 200°C that kills SARS-CoV-2 in a single pass. But they seem to not be so sure of how hot it should actually be.
I've ...
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Why wouldn't the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines be equally effective?
Based on what I have read, the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines all work by training the immune system to recognize the spike protein on the surface of the ...
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Are Covishield and AstraZeneca AZD1222 the same?
Some sources simply equate the two. On the other hand, Covishield seems to be undergoing its own clinical trials. The statement by the Indian authorities calls it “Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus ...
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What protection does T-cell immunity confer for Covid?
This preprint, which was just released today, says that while some of the Covid-19 variants evade antibody immunity, they do not evade T-cell immunity. It says that this is true both of T-cell ...
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Number of subsequent infections per case / overdispersion of COVID-19
I am aware that SARS-CoV-2 shows overdispersion, that is that many infected people cause no subsequent infections, but a small number of people cause very many infections (superspreading). The best ...
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Are there any randomized clinical trials being conducted on TMPRSS2 inhibitors for Covid-19 treatment?
In a recent paper on why hydroxychloroquine doesn't really work against Covid-19, it's been demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is much better at taking advantage of TMPRSS2 at the cell membrane surface, so ...
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Are there *in vitro* studies that find ivermectin directly effective against the SARS-CoV-2 spike or its other proteins?
Among the more obscure papers proposing ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 there are some that suggest it acts directly by binding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (and other proteins of that virus ...
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Any replications for the finding that SARS-CoV-2 disease severity depends on the initial ineffective dose?
In an October NEJM article it was stated that:
Recent virologic, epidemiologic, and ecologic data have led to the hypothesis that facial masking may also reduce the severity of disease among people ...
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Is there a reason to be anxious about claim that COVID-19 vaccine could turn out to be inducing infertility in females?
There is a petition written on December 1, 2020 to European Medicines Agency (EMA) by Dr. med. Wolfgang Wodarg and Dr. Michael Yeadon. You can see it here. Both of them are well known for spreading ...
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How effective are reused surgical masks?
Let's say I have used a surgical mask multiple times. And say I left it on a safe place, untouched, for three days which is the longest that viable SARS-CoV-2 has been found on different materials (...
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Is it true that half of the COVID-19 patients, even seemingly without symptoms, obtain serious heart damage?
In this video, complex systems expert and physicist-turned-epidemiologist Yaneer Bar-Yam claims that according to recent findings, about half of the people that have been infected with COVID-19 will ...
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Why are government decisions being led by the number of COVID CASES (as opposed to actual deaths)? [closed]
Since the early days of COVID-19, when very little information was available regarding this new virus, we now have an abundance of data. Data such as:
Cases recorded, per nation, per time period
...
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Why isn't COVID-19 just called SARS-2? Isn't it a second SARS? [duplicate]
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a disease caused by SARS-CoV—the "SARS CoronaVirus".
We now have a second disease caused by a second coronavirus, which we call SARS-CoV-2.
So why ...
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Is an "asymptomatic COVID-19 case" a misnomer?
I've seen references to asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, and am wondering if this is incorrect use of the term. If COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, then aren't truly ...
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Who's RNA does the rRT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 target?
The official guide for laboratory testing for coronavirus disease in suspected human cases by the WHO explains the procedure for testing a sample. On page two it states that the test
is based on ...
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What is the principal goal in pooled COVID-19 testing?
Pooled testing for COVID-19 is being considered as a method to ramp up testing Stat News. Apparently this is being considered by the White House coronavirus team.
It's not clear to me what the goal of ...
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What's the fastest COVID-19 test available?
This video 1 minute COVID-19 test talks about a 1 minute COVID-19 testing which isn't available to the public yet. In the market and online, you can find fast COVID-19 tests which deliver the result ...
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What is the long-term COVID-19 outlook?
Finding a cure for the common cold has long been an unattainable holy grail of medicine.
The common cold is caused by over 200 different strains of viruses (Common cold - Wikipedia).
The viruses ...
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False Positive PCR - COVID-19 and possible reinfection when antibodies value is +7.0
A friend of mine was detected COVID-19 positive through PCR one month back. He was asymptotic as per doctors and had no symptoms.
He quarantined himself and increased his intake of water.
After 1 ...
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Is the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 the only known virus that enters the cells via the ACE2 receptors?
I am just curious if the virus is unique in the sense that it enters the ACE2 receptors in the human body and kills the cell. This receptor is located over the entire body.
Is this the only virus ...
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Is there any information on the lifespan of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies?
Like all cells, antibodies die off after a period of time. A human body may (or not) be able to efficiently replace or replicate these antibodies. Whether the original antibodies were generated ...
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Is it helpful for the average citizen (non medical professionals) to wear gloves and disinfect them instead of disinfecting the bare hands?
In the last months I have seen lots of articles about wearing masks and gloves to prevent the infecting yourself or others. In the case of the masks this is quite clear that we should wear them, but ...
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Why does CDC's RT-PCR protocol for Covid-19 use the N gene, but the Charite one the E gene and RdRp?
The Charite protocol mentioned among other things that
Of note, the N gene assay also performed well but was not subjected to intensive further validation because it was slightly less sensitive.
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What does it mean to say a population has “low levels of general immunity”?
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lisa Grande, is quoted in several places (e.g. this CBS news article as saying (emphasis mine):
[SARS-CoV-2] is now in Yemen and may quickly spread. […] ...
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What information we have about transmission of COVID-19 in detail?
A lot of information we have how the COVID-19 virus spreads in general. But what do we know about the detected and proven way of transmission:
about which items (door handles, plates, salad bar, ...) ...
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What is the minimal infectious dose (MID) of SARS-CoV-2?
Assuming the immune system is healthy,
How much SARS-CoV-2 virus (cause of COVID-19) is required to make a person sick?
This might also depend on time, if it was a high infectious dose but just some ...
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COVID-19: Is it possible to use the specimen collected through swabs for multiple tests
I am an engineer and currently doing some modeling of COVID-19 testing from a math perspective. I was reading through COVID-19 articles related to testing and I had the following doubt:
If a ...
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Approximately, how much of protection one gets by using a face-mask-shield and a surgical-mask?
We know that face-mask-shield don't protect against droplet nuclei which float in the air, so one could end up infected, with COVID-19, even when wearing them.
However the face-mask-shield plus a ...
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Can having other coronaviruses like HCoV-OC43 give positive results when testing for SARS-CoV-2? [closed]
Is it possible that a person having coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV-2 test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in rapid (antibody testing kits) as well as RT PCR tests? Searching around the internet didn't ...
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Research paper published SARS-CoV-2 persistence and durability
I know that there have been other papers published, but I was specifically looking for the one referenced by Bill Bryan, an undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department, in the press briefing ...
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COVID-19 Contact tracing- Is there any clarity on the duration of "contact"
I was somewhat surprised to hear that contract tracers are instructed to disregard contacts between an known infected person (positive tested) person and their contacts if the duration of a contact is ...
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Clinical implications of observed faster mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 in group quarantine?
This was posted as a rapid communication on WHO's bulletin:
28 specimens of COVID-19 patients from the cruise with a 3 week quarantine
period were collected in USA and Japan from February 10 to ...
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Degree of correlation between viral load and symptom severity in Covid-19?
Someone asked here a general/related (qualitative) question Does viral load of the initial infection affect its severity? but I'm interstested a more focused question regarding Covid-19:
How well ...
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Why are Novel Coronavirus anitbody tests disparaged?
The Novel Coronavirus antibody test has been around since February 2020 when it was invented at a Chinese University. It can measure both IgM to show infection in progress and IgG to indicate full ...
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Why is developing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine expected to take longer than developing the 1957 flu vaccine?
Maurice Hillman developed a vaccine for the 1957 flu pandemic that was ready within five months (1).
One commonly hears that it will take at least 12-18 months in total to deploy a vaccine against ...
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What are the genetic predispositions, if any, for covid-19?
What are the genetic predispositions, if any, for covid-19?
For example, https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1258244/Coronavirus-symptoms-COVID19-susceptibility-genetic-transmission-latest-...
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If a SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic infected individual is exposed to a high viral load, could they develop COVID-19 disease?
I would add my own research if I could to respect site rules, but I can't. There are no studies on SARS-CoV-2, all I can find is for SARS-CoV-1 and some Chinese information based studies.
My ...
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What is the clinical significance of the ACE2 receptor tropism of SARS-COV-2?
I understand that ACE2 functions as a receptor for SARS-CoV-2, so there are theoretical concerns to the use of ACE inhibitors as they might upregulate this receptor.
This NEJM study was helpful to ...
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