62 votes
Accepted

Why will there be vaccines first before a cure for COVID-19?

Your question contains a lot of misconceptions. A cure is definitely possible A cure could be found, proved, and proved safe, more quickly than a vaccine People and firms that could be working on ...
Kate Gregory's user avatar
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34 votes
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Would the human seasonal coronaviruses be just as deadly as COVID-19 in a population with no prior immunity?

The seasonal coronaviruses attach exclusively to cells with a ciliated epithelium. Coronaviruses invade the respiratory tract via the nose. After an incubation period of about 3 days, they cause the ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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23 votes

Why will there be vaccines first before a cure for COVID-19?

Drugs are typically small molecules that interfere with some chemical process in the disease causing microbe, and therein lies the rub. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, etc. are sustained by their ...
Charles E. Grant's user avatar
12 votes
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What is the main way COVID-19 spreads?

The confusion exists because there are conflicting pronouncements from various authoritative sources but also conflicting pronouncements from the same authority. Covid-19 is a respiratory infection ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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11 votes
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Transmission of COVID-19 through domesticated animals

Covid-19 is the result of a zoonotic outbreak from bats to an intermediate ( and unidentified host ) thence to humans. It is thought that bats don't suffer the disease themselves as they carry low ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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10 votes
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Why handwash should last for 20 seconds or more?

This is something people have been studying since 1847 when Ignaz Semmelweis hypothesized that childbed fever was caused by physicians assisting at deliveries without cleaning their hands (sometimes ...
Charles E. Grant's user avatar
10 votes

Why is the new mRNA vaccine unable to modify human DNA?

Roman Zieliński seems to be intentionally misleading you by making an implausible circumstance that is technically possible sound like a likely outcome. This strategy is not unusual among people who ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
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7 votes
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Why is a (simple) mask not recommended for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients?

TL;DR: please WEAR A MASK! (unless your nearby hospitals are out of it, in which case give your masks to them and stay at home) The link you mentioned provides the reason that the CDC likely has in ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
7 votes

Why will there be vaccines first before a cure for COVID-19?

I don't believe we have the data to say that vaccines will be deployed earlier than an effective treatment. Vaccine technology is old technology and the go to for most infectious diseases as there is ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
  • 13.2k
7 votes

Why is the new mRNA vaccine unable to modify human DNA?

To supplement Bryan's answer (although I'm not going to say anything fundamentally different here), according to their proponents, mRNA vaccines are considered the safest genetic vaccines (in this ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 5,968
6 votes

When could chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine be widely available for Covid-19 treatment?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.. chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (and possibly in concert with azithromycin) have been touted over the past few days as a possible treatment regimen. And there's ...
motosubatsu's user avatar
  • 1,272
6 votes

Do coronavirus antibodies give you any immunity?

You're asking some completely different questions here from sources talking about completely different aspects of antibody-mediated immunity. The first statement, from WHO, is talking about people ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
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6 votes

Why are most people who contract COVID-19 asymptomatic?

At this point in time no one can say for sure why many people appear to have asymptomatic infection, and figures range from 20-80% though part of the problem appears to be from false positives in ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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6 votes
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Does a shorter COVID-19 vaccination interval increase efficacy of booster vaccines?

Seeing, as from comments you are interested in any time difference, this is a fairly simple question of vaccine prime and boost strategies. After an immunization or infection, the adaptive immune ...
bob1's user avatar
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5 votes
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If I microwave an infected piece of, let's say, cloth, for a minute or two, would it become disinfected?

You should read the whole article: Things You Should Never Microwave ... - Clothing and other large fabric items The problem with microwaves is that they are not heating any item put inside them ...
Philipp Leitl's user avatar
5 votes

Would the human seasonal coronaviruses be just as deadly as COVID-19 in a population with no prior immunity?

I should add here that there has been a case of ARDS reported for the alphacoronavirus 229E (i.e. a "common cold" coronavirus) in 2018. But ARDS occurrences are of course, much less common in these "...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 5,968
5 votes

Why are most people who contract COVID-19 asymptomatic?

The reason why many people who contract COVID-19 are asymptomatic is simple. It is because your immune system can kill the pathogen before you show symptoms. In other words, your body overwhelms the ...
Polydynamical's user avatar
5 votes

What information we have about transmission of COVID-19 in detail?

This question may a bit too broad (e.g. there are some separate questions about Covid-19 and food) but on the topic of transmission in an office-like setting there have been some studies/reports, some ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 5,968
5 votes

Is the WHO guideline on registering covid-19 deaths very expansive?

I would say that the guideline gives physicians quite a bit of leeway in determining a death is caused by COVID-19. The standard is not "any positive test + death = COVID-caused death"; it ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
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4 votes

If I microwave an infected piece of, let's say, cloth, for a minute or two, would it become disinfected?

To add to Philipp Leitl's good and cautionary answer: Microwave ovens work by causing polar molecules in the food being cooked, e.g. water and fats, to rotate, according to: Why does microwave heat ...
therobyouknow's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

Coronavirus active in freezer for years

Since the virus replicates via human cells, how do you expect it to proliferate inside a refrigerator? And if you had human tissue (lungs, hearts, kidney, bowel) in your fridge, it still needs to be ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
  • 13.2k
4 votes

Confusing COVID article - Why would keeping the doubling time above the incubation period flatten the curve?

One of the issues with COVID-19 is the fact that it is transmissible even by people who are asymptomatic. You've probably heard about R0, which is the basic reproduction rate of a disease, that takes ...
Nuclear Hoagie's user avatar
4 votes

Does bleach have to be diluted to be more effective to kill virus?

The text does not say that more diluted bleach is more effective at killing viruses (or bacteria, or yeast, for that matter). I'm quoting: ...A tenfold dilution of bleach, which subsequently mixed ...
PejoPhylo's user avatar
  • 141
4 votes

Does Ivermectin treat COVID-19 coronavirus infection?

Yes. Prevents it too. 100% in some studies, but not others, but then, the vaccines aren't proven stop it 100%, and ivermectin's safety profile is far superior. What's established/true has changed a ...
user1521620's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

Likelihood of death from coronavirus after being admitted

This must depend on the local situation. At the beginning of the pandemic Japanese Hospitals were admitting PCR positive asymptomatic patients. Then as the disease spread Chinese authorities in ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
  • 13.2k
4 votes
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Is repirator easier to breathe through than conventional medical mask?

Masks with exhalation valves are meant to be used to protect against particulates like sawdust or smoke. They must not be used in a pandemic because a large part of the usefulness of masks is ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
  • 13.7k
4 votes
Accepted

COVID-19 Variants

You are confused. The VUI-202012/01 strain has some 17 mutations, some of which have been seen separately before. See COG UK summary: COG UK suspects that that many mutations have accumulated in a ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 5,968
4 votes
Accepted

The number of new cases of COVID

As noted in the comments by @BryanKrause, the percentage of cases stratified by vaccination status should not be used as a metric of vaccine effectiveness. If you are interested in vaccine ...
Ian Campbell's user avatar
  • 3,070
4 votes

Why are COVID nucleic acid tests sometimes reported with non-integer CT values?

Viral nucleic acid amplification tests use real time PCR to detect viral genomic material. If the genetic material is present, a reaction will occur that generates fluorescence. If sample produces a ...
Ian Campbell's user avatar
  • 3,070

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