>>>
>>> SEEMINGLY WE LEARN SOMETHING NEW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS
EVERY DAY.
EVERY DAY. RESEARCHERS AROUND THE WORLD TRY
TO UNDERSTAND ITS PATHOGENESIS.
NOW WE'RE LEARNING FROM A NEW
STUDY IN MICROBIOLOGY THERE MAY
BE TWO STRAINS OF THE NOVEL
CORONAVIRUS.
CORONAVIRUS. THERE'S AN S-TYPE AND AN L-TYPE.
OUR HEALTH EXPERT IS HERE TO
EXPLAIN MORE.
EXPLAIN MORE. LET'S FIRST TALK ABOUT WHAT THAT
MEANS.
MEANS.
MEANS. THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRAINS OF
THE VIRUS.
THE VIRUS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN AND HOW DO
WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN
GOING TOWARD A CURE?
>> WE DO KNOW THAT VIRUSES,
PARTICULARLY THE CORONAVIRUS,
EVERY TIME THEY REPLICATE, THEY
CAN BE PRONE TO MUTATIONS.
AND THIS VIRUS HAS SHOWN US IN
THE PAST THAT IT CAN MUTATE
MULTIPLE TIMES.
MULTIPLE TIMES. IT WENT FROM THE BAT, WHICH WAS
THE ORIGINAL HOST, TO AN
INTERMEDIARY ANIMAL WHICH WE
THINK IS AN
ANIMAL CALLED PANGOLIN, AND IT
CAME TO HUMANS.
WHEN IT FIRST CAME TO HUMANS IN
DECEMBER, IT WAS THE S-TYPE OF
THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE CORONAVIRUS. WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED SINCE THEN
IS THERE'S ANOTHER TYPE CALLED
THE L-TYPE WHICH HAS GENETIC
DIFFERENCES FROM THE S-TYPE.
IT'S UNCLEAR IF S TURNED INTO L,
OR IF THE PANGOLIN GAVE US BOTH
S AND L.
S AND L.
S AND L. WE'RE STILL EXPLORING THOSE BUT
WE DO KNOW THE TWO DIFFERENT
TYPES HAVE DIFFERENT CLINICAL
OBSERVATION.
OBSERVATION. THEY BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY.
>> LET'S GO BACK ONE SECOND.
I'M FASCINATED BY THE S-TYPE AND
L-TYPE.
L-TYPE.
L-TYPE. YOU AND I WERE JUST TEXTING
ABOUT THE PANGOLIN BECAUSE THIS
IS AN
IS AN
IS AN ANIMAL IN THE MIDDLE YOU AND I
HAD NEVER HEARD OF.
TELL US HOW THIS BECOMES THE
INTERMEDIARY AND YOU FOUND OUT
THIS IS AN
ANIMAL THAT'S HEAVILY
TRAFFICKED.
TRAFFICKED. >> EXACTLY RIGHT.
THIS ANIMAL IS THE MOST
TRAFFICKED ANIMAL ACROSS ASIA
ACTUALLY AND IT'S USED FOR BOTH
FOOD PURPOSES AND MEDICINAL
PURPOSES.
PURPOSES.
PURPOSES. THE WAY WE KNOW IT WAS LIKELY
THE INTERMEDIARY ANIMAL IS BASED
ON THE GENETIC SEQUENCING.
GENETIC SIGNATURE TELLS US IT
CAME THROUGH THE PANGOLIN BEFORE
IT CAME TO HUMANS.
WE'D BEEN SCRATCHING OUR HEADS
FOR A TIME FIGURING OUT WHAT THE
INTERMEDIARY ANIMAL IS BUT
THAT'S THE ONE.
>> THAT'S YOUR HOMEWORK, GOOGLE
PANGOLIN.
PANGOLIN.
PANGOLIN. LEARN ABOUT THAT.
TELL US ABOUT THESE TWO STRAINS.
DO WE KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM?
IS ONE MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN THE
OTHER?
OTHER?
OTHER? >>
OTHER? >> SO THE L STRAIN IS MORE
COMMON THAN THE S STRAIN.
ABOUT 70% OF THE CASES WE'RE
SEEING ARE THE L STRAIN.
30% ARE THE S STRAIN.
THE S STRAIN IS THE OLDER TYPE.
THE L STRAIN IS THE ONE THAT
ACTUALLY SPREADS MORE QUICKLY.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW IS WHETHER
THIS MEANS IT'S ACTUALLY GOING
TO CAUSE A MORE SERIOUS ILLNESS.
SO JUST BECAUSE IT SPREADS
QUICKLY DOESN'T MEAN IT
NECESSARILY MAKES YOU SICKER.
IT JUST MEANS YOU'RE MORE LIKELY
TO GET INFECTED WITH THE L
STRAIN AND THAT'S WHY IT'S ALSO
MORE COMMON.
MORE COMMON. WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
WHY IT IS SOME PEOPLE ARE
COMPLETELY WITHOUT SYMPTOMS AND
SOME PEOPLE ARE ENDING UP IN THE
ICU OR DYING FROM THIS DISEASE,
IS IT THE STRAIN OF THE VIRUS?
THE DOSE OF THE VIRUS?
THE BODY'S RESPONSE, OR ALL OF
THE ABOVE?
THE ABOVE? WE'RE NOT CLEAR ON THAT YET.
>> WHAT DOES THIS DO AS FAR AS
TRYING TO DEVELOP A VACCINE?
DOES THIS MAKE IT MORE
DIFFICULT, MORE FLEXIBLE, OR A
MOVING TARGET?
MOVING TARGET? OR IS IT IMMATERIAL AS FAR AS
DEVELOPING THE VACCINE WE'RE
HOPING TO FIND?
>> YOU KNOW, A REALLY IMPORTANT
QUESTION, BECAUSE IF IT IS A
MOVING TARGET, IT WILL MAKE
VACCINE DEVELOPMENT MUCH MORE
CHALLENGING IF THE VIRUS KEEPS
MUTATING.
MUTATING.
MUTATING. THERE IS GOOD NEWS HERE AND IT
SEEMS LIKE EVEN THOUGH THERE'S
MINOR CHANGES BETWEEN THE
GENETIC SIGNATURES OF THE TWO
STRAINS, THEY'RE SO LARGELY
OVERLAPPING, THAT IT'S PROBABLY
NOT GOING TO AFFECT VACCINE
DEVELOPMENT OR THE SUCCESS OF A
VACCINE WHICH WILL LIKELY WORK
ON BOTH STRAINS.
>> AND OBVIOUSLY AS WE WATCH
THIS CONTINUE TO EVOLVE, WE'VE
BEEN TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ITS
IMPACT ON MEN AND WOMEN IN
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD AS
WELL.
WELL.
WELL. >>
WELL. >> ANOTHER VERY INTERESTING
OBSERVATION THAT'S EMERGED.
IN CHINA, MEN WERE SIGNIFICANTLY
MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM THE
DISEASE THAN WOMEN.
AND INITIALLY SCIENTISTS THOUGHT
THAT WAS BECAUSE MEN ARE MORE
LIKELY TO SMOKE, AND SMOKING IS
A RISK FACTOR FOR DYING FROM
THIS DISEASE.
THIS DISEASE. BUT MORE RECENTLY WE'RE LEARNING
THAT THE ACE 2 RECEPTOR, WHICH
IS THE DOORWAY THE VIRUS USES TO
GET INTO THE LUNGS, IS ACTUALLY
EXPRESSED ON THE X CHROMOSOME.
SO WOMEN ACTUALLY HAVE DIFFERENT
AMOUNT OF COPIES OF IT COMPARED
TO MEN BECAUSE THEY HAVE TWO X
CHROMOSOMES COMPARED TO MEN WHO
ONLY HAVE ONE.
SO WE'RE WONDERING IF THAT MAY
ATTRIBUTE THE DIFFERENCE.
>> IT'S NICE EVERY DAY YOU
TEACH US MORE ABOUT IT, KEEP US
WELL INFORMED AND TOGETHER WE
CAN ALL LEARN MORE ABOUT THE
PANGOLIN