Time for the Part 3 of the Covid-19 Webinar series by the
@India_Alliance @THSTIFaridabad @IAVI @NatureInd
Cc: @SarahHyder
@India_Alliance @THSTIFaridabad @IAVI @NatureInd
Cc: @SarahHyder
About 90+ projects initiated globally to develop vaccines. They use both old (weakened virus vaccine) and new technologies (RNA and DNA based vaccine). Two vaccines are in Human Clinical Trials- 1 mRNA vaccine and a virus particle vaccine. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
Indians and Africans are no less susceptible. It is a new virus. We are all equally at risk. Only proper epidemiological studies can tell us if we are more immune. Nothing has been done so far in this regard. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
Countries with high rates of BCG have a slower spread. But those countries are also poorer with a lot less testing. BCG can channel your immune function-trained immunity. It is biologically plausible but need case-control studies and RCTs. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
Mathematical models can be very helpful. But modelling depends largely on what we know of the disease. For covid-19, different people have different exposure periods and pattern of showing symptoms. We do not have adequate data for clarity. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
About 90+ projects initiated globally to develop vaccines. They use both old (weakened virus vaccine) and new technologies (RNA and DNA based vaccine). Two vaccines are in Human Clinical Trials- 1 mRNA vaccine and a virus particle vaccine. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
Can super spreaders affect the virus trajectory? We need to understand how much a person sheds and it can vary widely from one to another. Super spreaders cannot be identified early enough. Models may think of including potential spreaders. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
What is important is that we do not start off by demonizing super spreaders. They are anyway more important during the early spread. Without testing, we don't even know the extent of the spread and where we are in that regard. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
Once the epidemic starts, the models just predict a logical way of spread. We need just 1 person to start and the epidemic then takes over. Social distancing should be done as early as possible. With time, contact tracing becomes a challenge! Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
We have real time PCR based assays that look at nucleic acid amplification. Antibody tests detect a person's immune response to the virus. RT PCR is positive before a person becomes infected. But we are testing only people with symptoms. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
The first antibody IgM, comes up in 14 days. IgG comes up 3 weeks after infection. So we have no antibody immediately post infection. There is no use of antibody tests while testing populations for acute diagnostics. RT PCR is very effective. Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
A first round sero survey followed by mapping a design for a second round of the survey is essential! Data from private sources of testing are valuable and need to be included in estimates of disease burden & location! Webinar by @India_Alliance on #Corona
