>>>
>>> THERE
>>> THERE IS STILL SO MUCH WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS.
ONE QUESTION THAT HAS
SCIENTISTS SCRATCHING THEIR
HEADS ABOUT IS WHY SOME PEOPLE
WITH COVID-19 ARE ASYMPTOMATIC
WHILE OTHERS GET VERY SICK.
NOW SOME IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH
HAS EMERGED THAT MAY HELP
EXPLAIN THE PHENOMENON.
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT WITH OUR 9
HEALTH EXPERT ON A FRIDAY
AFTERNOON.
AFTERNOON. WHAT ARE THE SCIENTIFIC FACTORS
THAT WE HAVE SEEN THAT MIGHT BE
GIVING US INSIGHT INTO EXACTLY
HOW SICK SOME PEOPLE GET?
>> TOM, THIS IS A NEW VIRUS SO
WE'RE STILL LEARNING.
THERE ARE TWO FACTORS THAT SEEM
TO HAVE EMERGED AS THE MOST
IMPORTANT ONES.
IMPORTANT ONES. FIRST IS A CONCEPT CALLED VIRAL
LOAD.
LOAD.
LOAD. THAT'S ESSENTIALLY THE NUMBER
OF COPIES OF A VIRUS THAT YOU
HAVE.
HAVE.
HAVE. WE
HAVE. WE KNOW WITH OTHER VIRUSES LIKE
INFLUENZA, HIV AND EVEN OTHER
CORONAVIRUS LIKE SARS AND MERS
HOW MANY COPIES YOU HAVE OF THE
VIRUS DIRECTLY INFLUENCES HOW
SICK YOU GET.
WITH THIS PARTICULAR
CORONAVIRUS, THERE'S MIXED DATA
OUT THERE, BUT THERE ARE MORE
AND MORE STUDIES EMERGING
SAYING MORE VIRUSES EQUALS
GETTING SICKER.
GETTING SICKER. THEN, THE SECOND IS THE HOST
RESPONSE.
RESPONSE.
RESPONSE. THAT'S HOW MANY SOLDIERS THE
BODY IS SENDING TO FIGHT THE
INFECTION.
INFECTION. IN THE CASE OF THIS VIRUS, THE
BODY OFTEN OVER REACTS AND
CAUSED COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
>> WE KNOW THE RECIPIENT, WE'RE
ALL DIFFERENT, WE'RE ALL BUILT
DIFFERENTLY AND HAVE DIFFERENT
IMMUNE SYSTEMS.
IMMUNE SYSTEMS. WE TALKED ABOUT THE FIRST
RESPONDERS, THE PEOPLE ON THE
FRONTLINES AND YOU MENTION
VIRAL LOAD.
VIRAL LOAD. THOSE PEOPLE MAY SEE MANY
DIFFERENT COPIES OF THAT VIRAL
LOAD OVER THE COURSE OF A SHIFT
EVEN.
EVEN.
EVEN. >>
EVEN. >> YEAH, SO, THAT CONCEPT THAT
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS
SOMETHING CALLED VIRAL DOSE.
THINK ABOUT THAT AS THE EMBERS
THAT LIGHT THE FIRE.
THE VIRAL LOAD IS THE ACTUAL
SIZE OF THE FIRE ONCE IT HAS
ALREADY BEEN LIT.
THAT'S HOW MANY COPIES OF THE
VIRUS ARE INSIDE OF YOU AND HOW
THEY ARE KEPPEL REPLICATING.
THE FRONT LINE WORKERS COULD BE
DOING WORSE BECAUSE THEY'RE
GETTING A HIGHER VIRAL DOSE,
THE EMBERS ARE BIGGER, LEADING
TO A BIGGER FIRE, A HIGHER
VIRAL LOAD.
VIRAL LOAD. >> LET'S TALK ABOUT THE TWO
FACTORS YOU WERE DISCUSSING AND
WHAT THE IMMUNOLOGY STUDIES ARE
STARTING TO SHOW US.
>> WE ARE LEARNING THAT THIS
VIRUS DOESN'T SEEM TO TRIGGER
THE IMMUNE RESPONSE AS
EFFICIENTLY AS OTHER VIRUSES
LIKE THE INFLUENZA VIRUS.
I KNOW YOU'RE A SPORTS FAN.
I'M GOING TO USE A SPORTS
ANALOGY HERE.
ANALOGY HERE. IT'S BASICALLY LIKE HAVING YOUR
BEST PLAYERS SITTING ON THE
BENCH WHILE YOU'RE HAVING THE
BACKUP PLAYERS TO FIGHT THE
INFECTION.
INFECTION. THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A GOOD
IDEA.
IDEA.
IDEA. THAT'S THE IMAMINU RESPONSE.
WITH IMMUNE RESPONSE.
THE VIRAL LOAD CORRELATES WITH
AGE.
AGE.
AGE. THE
AGE. THE OLDER YOU ARE, THE MORE
COPIES OF THE VIRUS YOU TEND TO
HAVE INSIDE YOU AND COULD BE AN
EXPLANATION WHY OLDER PEOPLE DO
WORSE WHEREAS CHILDREN DON'T
SEEM TO DO AS BADLY.
>> DOES THIS START TO POINT
TOWARD THERAPIES AS DIFFERENT
WAYS WE START TO MANAGE THESE
SITUATIONS?
SITUATIONS? >> YEAH, JUST EARLIER TODAY, WE
SAW THAT REMDESIVIR GOT
EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION BY
THE FDA AND THAT TARGETS THE
VIRAL REPLICATION SO THAT'S
ADDRESSING THE REPLICATION OF
THE VIRUS.
THE VIRUS. YOU CAN IMAGINE DOWN THE LINE
WE COULD HAVE A COCKTAIL OF
MEDICATIONS, ONE THAT LOOKS AT
THE VIRAL REPLICATION AND THE
OTHER THAT'S AN ANTI-
INFLAMMATORY THAT TARGETS THE
IMMUNE SYSTEM OVERREACTION TO
TRY TO TREAT THE VIRUS.
>> WE SWITCH TO MAY AND START
GOING TO DIFFERENT REOPENINGS
OF DIFFERENT STATES INCLUDING
HERE IN COLORADO.
WHILE NOBODY SAYS IT IS LIKE
FLIPPING A LIGHT SWITCH, IT IS
GOING TO HAPPEN TO SOME EXTENT
SLOWLY.
SLOWLY.
SLOWLY. WHEN WILL WE START TO KNOW OR
SEE THE EFFECT OF THAT
THEORETICALLY FROM A MEDICAL
STANDPOINT AS FAR AS MAYBE MORE
CASES OR MAYBE A WIDER SPREAD
OF THESE CASES?
>> YEAH, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT
TO KEEP THAT IN MIND BECAUSE
WE'RE NOT GOING TO SEE THE
EFFECTS OF WHAT WE ARE DOING
TODAY FOR ANOTHER TWO TO THREE
WEEKS.
WEEKS.
WEEKS. THAT'S ASSUMING THAT THE
TESTING REALLY RAMPS UP THE WAY
THE GOVERNOR HAS EXPECTED THAT
IT WOULD IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF
WEEKS.
WEEKS.
WEEKS. SO, JUST BECAUSE WE OPEN UP
TODAY AND NOTHING HAPPENS NEXT
WEEK AND THE WEEK AFTER, IT'S
JUST DEFINITELY NOT A TIME TO
BECOME COMPLACENT AND THINK
NOTHING IS HAPPENING BECAUSE
THOSE CASES ARE GOING TO START
SHOWING UP IN TWO TO THREE
WEEKS.
WEEKS.
WEEKS. >>
WEEKS. >> IT'S GETTING WARMER.
PEOPLE ARE GETTING OUTSIDE.
HOPEFULLY THE MASKS, SOCIAL
DISTANCING AND ALL THE THINGS
DESIGNED TO KEEP US SAFE