coronavirus

There is a new variant of COVID-19 in the UK

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On Saturday 19th December, millions of people were thrown into uncertainty when the UK government announced that Christmas was effectively cancelled. Plans to allow people to travel without restrictions for up to five days were scuppered by the emergence of a new variant of the virus.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • The variant is named VUI-202012/01.
  • It was detected by the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium
  • There have been more than 1000 cases so far
  • It’s been detected in at least 60 local authorities within the UK
  • It was first spotted in September but seems to be causing a rise of case across the UK now

According to Public Health England, the new variant is not necessarily more dangerous, although research is currently underway.

SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus and mutations are expected to occur as it replicates. Some variants with changes in the spike protein have already been observed as the virus is intensely sequenced here in the UK and around the world. There is no evidence that the newly-reported variant results in a more severe disease.

Professor Wendy Barclay, head of the department of infectious disease, Imperial College London.

In terms of the vaccine, the mutation that’s caused the new variant has been located in the spike protein — the area targeted by the vaccine. This means it should still be effective. However, more research is being done and we will know more in the coming weeks.

Source: BMJ 2020;371:m4857 (link), Science Focus (link)

It’s still going to be a difficult winter

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It is still going to be a very difficult winter. Distributing millions of vaccines will take months, so there will be a period where some people have natural immunity and others have vaccine immunity, while others remain vulnerable. Moreover, we don’t know how long vaccine immunity will last. While it would be great to get a vaccine on a Monday and celebrate your newfound immunity at a party on Tuesday, that’s not how it works. Those who are lucky to get a vaccine early in the process owe it to their communities to continue wearing masks and distancing until new cases and hospitalizations subside to near zero.”

—Dave O’Connor, PhD, University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Scratching the surface: the effect of coronavirus (COVID-19) on eczema

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Eczema affects 1 in 10 Adults

Eczema is a very common skin disorder affecting children and adults. It affects 20% of children in the UK at some point in life, and 1 in 10 adults suffer from atopic dermatitis. Eczema is characterised by dry, scaly skin and mild to severe itching. It can be made worse by Western culture, rising pollution, and increasing stress levels.


COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019), and is classified as a respiratory illness caused by virus strain SARS-COV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), and as of yet, there is no vaccine.As of writing, there have been over 36 million reported cases and 1 million deaths globally (you can keep up to date with the current figures here).

Stress is a risk factor of eczema

COVID-19 has impacted our lifestyles. With people staying at home, our diet, health, fitness levels, mental state, and what we are exposed to in our environments daily have changed. For some people, stress levels have increased – due to changes in employment, worry over the virus, and uncertainty of the future – which is a risk factor of eczema.

Continue reading →

4 COVID-19 Expert Quotes

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Coronavirus (or COVID-19) has taken the world by storm, and after a frenzied period at the beginning of the year, many countries are seeing a rise in the number of cases. Despite the efforts from scientists and researchers across the globe, there is still no vaccine for the virus. This means society is still relying on social distancing and hygiene measures to limit the spread of the virus.

With the general public unused to this kind of phenomenon, it’s down to the experts to keep us up to date and informed.

Here are 4 Expert COVID-19 quotes… Continue reading →

The mind is not isolated from the world it lives in.

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The mind is not isolated from the world it lives in.

While writing one of my last posts, ‘The Effect of Coronavirus on Mental Health‘ – I wondered how things would improve. Before the pandemic began, many of us were already struggling. We were already dealing with poor mental health – the virus just put it in a vacuum. Life seemingly ground to a halt, pushing mental health issues to the forefront.

There has been an increase in mental health awareness, with governments and organisations providing guides and online support – but it feels temporary. With the focus on returning to normal as soon as possible, it’s easy to feel like the help won’t be available when that happens.

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Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

The above quote is from an article in Nature by Rochelle Burgess titled: ‘COVID-19 mental-health responses neglect social realities‘. It discusses how the spotlight on mental health during the coronavirus pandemic. Burgess argues that these measures don’t take into account what people’s lives were like before and what’s been the main factor in their condition.

Continue reading →

the effect of COVID-19 on mental health

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Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

I wish it would just go away. 

That is a common sentiment everyone’s heard at least once this year thanks to the coronavirus, COVID-19, the global pandemic that’s taken the world by storm since early February. COVID-19 has left a huge and unprecedented impact on modern society.

An article in Brain, Behavior and Immunity states COVID-19 ‘threatens our basic need for connection’ which could have severe impacts on mental health. This is shown by a study carried out in Spain during the lockdown on 3480 people. Of the people who took part, 18% were depressive, 21.6% suffered from anxiety and 15.8% were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Additionally, many people have lost loved ones or been devastated in other ways.

This is an unsettling and unpredictable time. Life as we know it has changed and shows no signs of going back to normal soon. Continue reading →

the benefits to wearing face masks outweigh any downsides [quote]

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“There is increasing evidence through comparisons of what’s happening in different countries and in different states, in terms of mask usage and mandates, that masks help slow transmission of COVID-19. Of course, it would be ideal if everyone had access to high-quality masks, but masks do not have to be 100% effective to reduce one’s exposure to virus. At this point, any reduction helps. I think it is becoming clear that the benefits to wearing face coverings outweigh any downsides.”

— Linsey Marr, PhD, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Quote originally posted here.

Writing your way through your new normal

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WRTINGNN

Journaling or keeping a diary (and more recently, blogging) has always been a useful tool in our daily lives. Journaling helps maintain control of our moods, thoughts and feelings by allowing us to focus on our concerns, problems and fears while providing us with a creative outlet. 

It has been shown to improve mental health, with the University of Rochester Medical Center stating that journaling can help people with:

  • Anxiety 
  • Depression
  • Stress

Currently, the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic is causing a lot of change around the world and with constant updates every ten minutes, it’s normal for people to feel a bit anxious and stressed out. With a large number of people in the world stuck at home, it’s easy to feel bored and shut off from the rest of the world. This is where journaling comes in. By keeping a regular journal, you will be able to process your thoughts and emotions with regards to the virus, as well as focus on other areas of your life such as gratitude and self-discovery. Continue reading →

raising awareness vs raising alarm

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Raising awareness versus raising alarm; the public can’t be better informed if the information isn’t better. — T.K. NALIAKA

In the wake of everything happening today, I think this is an important quote (unfortunately, I couldn’t find a source).

People are confused, scared and angry and as far as I can see, no one has really come up with an adequate way to keep the general public informed without regurgitating a series of numbers and data sets that won’t offset their anxiety.

“What’s the death count today?” is now common question as opposed to, “what’s the latest information?”

For example, while Wikipedia has an extensive timeline for COVID-19. When you click onto April,  it’s mainly a report of cases and deaths – that’s great for statisticians, but not so much for the general public. The Financial Times has an interactive guide that is much better, but the graphs may be tiresome to people who don’t find them easy to follow.

General members of the public tend to feel at ease when they can understand what is happening. Presenting the information as numbers/data makes it difficult for everybody to follow what’s happening beyond the dark nature of COVID-19. Two months ago, it was unheard of to hear that 20,000+ people had died. Today, after hearing that hundreds have been dying every day – that number loses its bite.

It’s clear that information channels need to be improved in order to prevent alarm and desensitization to what’s happening.

That being said, it’s unsurprising that there are so many resources and not much clarity. A virus of this nature is one that nobody was prepared for. Here’s hoping that in time, the information will be better.

© Purplexed Science 2020

P.S. I’ve compiled a small list of resources here (and will continue to add to it).

Why wearing a mask might not prevent the spread of coronavirus

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What is a coronavirus?

Coronavirus is the scientific name for a group of viruses that cause things like common colds and more serious illnesses like SARS (severe acute respiratory symptom). They can be transmitted from humans to other humans or from animals to humans.

Why is it in the news today?

The coronavirus we’ve been hearing about is a new strain of the virus that nobody had come across before it struck patients in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China last year. It has now been named COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019), and is classified as a respiratory illness caused by virus strain SARS-COV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and as of yet, there is no vaccine.

It is currently a serious issue because of the rate at which it is spreading and the fact that it can be fatal.

As of writing there has been 1,923,651 reported cases and over 119,595 deaths globally (you can keep up to date with the current figures here).

How is it transmited?

During the initial stages of the outbreak, it was thought that there was animal-to-person spread originating in a seafood and live animal market. However, a lot of patients didn’t have any contact or exposure with animal markets suggesting that there is in fact person-to-person spread.

This has been the case in countries all across the world where it appears to be spreading easily due to a lack of social distancing, limited testing and poor hygiene practices when the first few cases began to appear. This led to a high level of person to person spread first in Italy, which became the new epicentre of the virus, and then the rest of Europe before the number of cases grew in the United States.

Person to person spread comes about when people come within six feet of an infected patient. It is thought that people are most contagious when they’re sick. The virus is spread through droplets produced by sneezing and coughing.

Although, currently the World Health Organisation doesn’t believe that COVID-19 is airborne, a research article in Environmental International states:

National authorities [should] acknowledge the reality that the virus spreads through air, and recommend that adequate control measures be implemented to prevent further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Will wearing a mask prevent transmission?

Much has been made of members of the public wearing face masks with the WHO reluctant to state that it’s a foolproof method of preventing transmission. While local authorities are suggesting that people wear cloth face masks while out and about, there is not yet enough evidence to say that they will stop people from catching COVID-19. 

The question has remained: are masks effective when it comes to preventing droplets from spreading?

In short, no.

That’s the worrying answer a group of researchers in South Korea arrived at when they put surgical masks and cotton masks to the test. Continue reading →