Word: coronaviruses
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...Coronavirus Works...
...Coronavirus Works...
...Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was elated. In a matter of weeks?not months or years?teams of scientists whose work was coordinated by the World Health Organization had managed to decode the entire genetic sequence of the new coronavirus now conclusively believed to cause SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. "It's a scientific achievement that I don't think has ever been paralleled in human history," said Dr. Gerberding shortly before the April 16 announcement that the coronavirus's genetic fingerprint had been fully identified...
...virus's worst enemy is the human immune system. When an unknown pathogen like the new coronavirus invades, the body naturally develops antibodies that can seek out and destroy the interloper. The process takes time, however, and sometimes the system doesn't react fast enough. Science can help with vaccines, which prep the body to recognize and produce antibodies against a particular attacker, such as polio. A vaccine for SARS is under development, but even the most optimistic researchers say it may take more than a year to come up with one that works...
...Ribavirin's side effects, which include anemia, become dangerous at prolonged high dosages. Moreover, laboratory tests in the U.S. suggest that ribavirin may actually do nothing to the coronavirus. Scientists are exploring other antivirals?such as interferon, which boosts the immune system?or even HIV drugs?such as protease inhibitors, which block an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. But too little is known about the coronavirus to predict the effectiveness of these other drugs...