COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[Marvin]

Does the study mention if that test is covid-19-specific - or just generally coronavirus-specific?
In Germany we have about 4 regular seasonal coronaviruses (flu, cold...)
that are testing cross-positive on ontibody tests.
That problem has to be solved first.

Study by Stanford University in the USA showed the present of antibodies at a level up to 50-85 times above the number of confirmed cases in California https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...s-far-more-widespread-than-previously-thought.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

That is not how vaccination trials work.
It is unethical to try to infect volunteers.

No, they wouldn't be exposing them, that would be nuts.

Wouldn't a vaccine trial involve inoculating people with something non-contagious/non-pathogenic (typically part of the virus, changed slightly, or inserted into a neutral carrier) to see if it causes the body to produce the response that is needed to fight off the real virus?

 

[Manc in London]

I posted that a week or so ago I think it was a paper from findings in China that about 30% of people in a field study infected with covid had no detectable antibodies in their system.

Ah right. I think the study I am referring to is based on a UK study. I guess that further corroborates the research from China.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

If there are no suitable anti body tests available how I know of private doctors offering them at an extortionate price as well as testing. Shouldn’t those that need them the most be given them first rather than those that can afford them? And how effective are the anti body tests? If I was paying a ridiculous amount for one then I would want to know the result is correct

one dr selling them is selling the ones the NHS rejected because they don’t work!
There is no antibody test available for mass production.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Vaccine talk by mid-August now. From the BBC: 9.07 hours. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52336209

The UK doesn’t currently have the capacity to produce the amount of vaccine it needs to tackle coronavirus, but “is in a really good place” for vaccine development, according to Prof John Bell, a member of the UK government's vaccine task force.

Asked about the possibility of a vaccine being produced by the autumn, Mr Bell said the real question was whether it would be effective, adding that "we won’t get a signal for that until May".

"The crucial thing is you have to do a proper trial because safety is really important for these things," he said.

"But if we can see evidence of a strong immune response by the middle or the end of May, then I think the game is on.

"And they may well get across the finish line by mid-August."

we will not be producing vaccine in this country. We have no facility to mass produce anywhere in the UK and it would take years to set one up.

 

[Eds]

one dr selling them is selling the ones the NHS rejected because they don’t work!
There is no antibody test available for mass production.

is this doctor south manchester based?

 

[denislawsbackheel]

No it was that a London twat who was making millions selling covid 19 tests privately until the press exposed him. Now he’s on to duff antibody tests

 

[SWP's back]

We really haven’t got a clue about these infection numbers have we. Still can’t work out how Santa Clara have antibody kits that definitely work and there are so many question marks on ours.

An interesting study has emerged in the US which found that the number of people infected with coronavirus could be as much as 85 times higher than previously thought.

The research from Stanford University, which was published on Friday, tested samples from 3,330 people in Santa Clara county, in California, and found the virus to be 50 to 85 times more common than official figures indicated.

The study, the first large-scale one of its kind, has yet to be peer reviewed and was conducted by identifying antibodies in healthy individuals through a finger prick test, which indicated whether they had already contracted and recovered from the virus.

At the time of the study, Santa Clara county had 1,094 confirmed cases of Covid-19, resulting in 50 deaths. But, based on the rate of people who have antibodies, it is likely that between 48,000 and 81,000 people had been infected in the county by early April – a number approximately 50 to 80 times higher.

The WHO have said there isn’t an antibody test that’s very accurate yet haven’t they?

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

and my tip for you is to read the fucking thread before commenting in future, it would have saved you the effort of trying to make a snide comment.

I did. You come across badly. All blue hammer suggested was tipping a binman.

You went both barrels at him for no particular reason.

 

[ayrshire_blue]

Thanks for posting. Not sure of the context in which it was said, but I find this quote rather awkward: “The NHS has done it,” one minister told BuzzFeed News. “This has been an appalling few weeks but we appear to have got through it without the worst happening.”

We don't know how many people have died at home or in care homes who might otherwise have been hospitalized and added to the NHS burden, so it's perhaps a little hasty to draw such a conclusion and crass to phrase it thus.

Yeah I agree. It seems well out of taste particularly when we don't know the true extent of the infections and deaths in care homes and communities, not to mention the people suffering and dying with other conditions because they can't receive treatment.

I'm not particularly sure I like the idea of "being able to go back to work", which will increase my risk of getting something, which means I can't see my parents for even longer...

Yeah I understand this point obviously. I'm working throughout this as a key worker and regularly in contact with the public and in particular vulnerable members of society. On the one hand I have the fear of coming into contact with covid not just for me but for who I might subsequently go on to effect particular family members etc. On the other, the feeling of normality in attending work is benefit to my mental health even though I'm going into the unknown.

The idea of mass testing, an app to trace contact with positive cases and immediate quarantine of those who do sounds like the most likely way to strike a balance. It will require a lot of work but hopefully we can get there. On the one hand I don't want my 3 year old kid visiting his grandparents for fear of infecting them, on the other hand they are breaking their hearts because they're desperate to see their grandkid. Preventing them from doing so for 18 months or so would be utterly unbearable for all. Not nice decisions either way.