John J. L. Jacobs
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  • Nederlands
  • Resume
    • Science
    • Recent Research
    • Cancer immunotherapy
  • COVID-19
    • Herd Immunity Re-Revisted
      • 1 About herd immunity (HIRR).
      • 2 Three failed attempts.(HIRR)
      • 3. Calculate the costs (HIRR).
      • 4. Incomplete immunity (HIRR).
      • 5. What could possibly go wrong? (HIRR)
      • 6. How should we act? (HIRR)
      • 7. In brief. (HIRR)
    • Simple & complex
    • Epidemic Control
      • Epidemic Control Addendum
    • Summary Two years of COVID-19
    • Two years of COVID-19
      • I. Healthcare threat
      • II. Deceptive virus
      • III. Morbid tales
      • IV. Antivirus immunity
      • V. Stop the outbreak
      • VI. Dark and light reflections
      • VII. Looking forward
    • Humanitarian
    • Questions
      • Disease
      • Vaccines
      • Immunity
      • Epidemics
      • Mutation
      • Politics
    • Virus ethics
      • Transparency
      • Strife
      • Beyond Mortality
      • Special immunity
      • Vaccination
      • Prevent contamination
    • Non-sterilizing immunity
    • Immune responses and vaccines
      • Calculation of infection fatality rate
      • Various Immune responses
      • Different vaccines
      • Trials and results
      • Vaccination and next steps
    • Is it wise to vaccinate?
    • Test, trace & isolate.
    • Different tests
    • Avoid contimination
    • No herd immunity
    • A safe and efficient COVID-19 Vaccine
    • The disease and long-term effects
    • Lost at familiar property
    • Corona Dashboard. 2.0
    • How to fight COVID-19
  • ORTEC
    • P4O2 COVID-19
    • Data science leukemia
    • ​Data to improve patient care
    • Clinical decision support
    • U-Prevent
  • Federa
    • Associations of the Federa
  • Hartblik - blogs
  • Home
  • Nederlands
  • Resume
    • Science
    • Recent Research
    • Cancer immunotherapy
  • COVID-19
    • Herd Immunity Re-Revisted
      • 1 About herd immunity (HIRR).
      • 2 Three failed attempts.(HIRR)
      • 3. Calculate the costs (HIRR).
      • 4. Incomplete immunity (HIRR).
      • 5. What could possibly go wrong? (HIRR)
      • 6. How should we act? (HIRR)
      • 7. In brief. (HIRR)
    • Simple & complex
    • Epidemic Control
      • Epidemic Control Addendum
    • Summary Two years of COVID-19
    • Two years of COVID-19
      • I. Healthcare threat
      • II. Deceptive virus
      • III. Morbid tales
      • IV. Antivirus immunity
      • V. Stop the outbreak
      • VI. Dark and light reflections
      • VII. Looking forward
    • Humanitarian
    • Questions
      • Disease
      • Vaccines
      • Immunity
      • Epidemics
      • Mutation
      • Politics
    • Virus ethics
      • Transparency
      • Strife
      • Beyond Mortality
      • Special immunity
      • Vaccination
      • Prevent contamination
    • Non-sterilizing immunity
    • Immune responses and vaccines
      • Calculation of infection fatality rate
      • Various Immune responses
      • Different vaccines
      • Trials and results
      • Vaccination and next steps
    • Is it wise to vaccinate?
    • Test, trace & isolate.
    • Different tests
    • Avoid contimination
    • No herd immunity
    • A safe and efficient COVID-19 Vaccine
    • The disease and long-term effects
    • Lost at familiar property
    • Corona Dashboard. 2.0
    • How to fight COVID-19
  • ORTEC
    • P4O2 COVID-19
    • Data science leukemia
    • ​Data to improve patient care
    • Clinical decision support
    • U-Prevent
  • Federa
    • Associations of the Federa
  • Hartblik - blogs

COVID-19

I am moving my English blogs on COVID-19 and ORTEC to this site.
Nederlandse blogs over COVID-19

Mutations and variants of SARS-2.

  • Does the SARS-2 virus mutate rapidly?
  • Do all mutants produce the same amount of virus?
  • Could mutants escape the antigen-specific immune response?

Does the SARS-2 virus mutate rapidly? 

No, coronaviruses mutate less than other RNA viruses but with the current world-wide incidence still many mutants will occur.
  • In general RNA viruses mutate rapidly but coronaviruses are an exception to the rule since they have a proof-reading RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.
  • It might be contra intuitive that a virus should limits is evolvability by proof reading against mutations. I suspect it might be attributable to its crucial ability to limit innate immune responses in all mutants in an individual.
  • Nevertheless, the world has adapted a deviant anti-epidemic strategy that allows the SARS-2 virus to cause over 200 million cases in humans and thus to evolve many mutants. And in many regions of the world this spreads on.

​Do all mutants produce the same amount of virus?

No, the recent virus variants have higher virus concentration and are more infectious.
  • ​The Alpha-variant (B.1.1.7 or British variant) has 10-fold higher virus titers. The Delta variant (B.1.617.2 or Indian variant) has 1000-fold higher virus titers. Higher virus loads allow the virus to spread easier. Mutants can yield higher virus concentration because of:
    • stronger binding the receptor,
    • use of an alternative receptor (not observed yet), and
    • by decreasing the innate immune response.
  • At the onset of symptoms, virus titers rapidly decline but disease might still occur.

​Could mutants escape the antigen-specific immune response?

No, the recent virus variants have higher virus concentration and are more infectious.
Yes, mutants might specifically escape T-cell or antibody responses.
  • Evolutionary pressure would allow escape mutants to reinfect people without sterilizing immunity.
  • In the first few months after infection, there would be selective pressure for mutants that would escape antibody responses to allow them to infect other people.
  • Considering its epidemiological mechanisms, this would mainly occur in populations with very high virus circulation.  

  • Disease
  • Vaccines
  • Immunity
  • Epidemic
  • Mutations
  • Politics
  • ​Home page of questions
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  • Home
  • Nederlands
  • Resume
    • Science
    • Recent Research
    • Cancer immunotherapy
  • COVID-19
    • Herd Immunity Re-Revisted
      • 1 About herd immunity (HIRR).
      • 2 Three failed attempts.(HIRR)
      • 3. Calculate the costs (HIRR).
      • 4. Incomplete immunity (HIRR).
      • 5. What could possibly go wrong? (HIRR)
      • 6. How should we act? (HIRR)
      • 7. In brief. (HIRR)
    • Simple & complex
    • Epidemic Control
      • Epidemic Control Addendum
    • Summary Two years of COVID-19
    • Two years of COVID-19
      • I. Healthcare threat
      • II. Deceptive virus
      • III. Morbid tales
      • IV. Antivirus immunity
      • V. Stop the outbreak
      • VI. Dark and light reflections
      • VII. Looking forward
    • Humanitarian
    • Questions
      • Disease
      • Vaccines
      • Immunity
      • Epidemics
      • Mutation
      • Politics
    • Virus ethics
      • Transparency
      • Strife
      • Beyond Mortality
      • Special immunity
      • Vaccination
      • Prevent contamination
    • Non-sterilizing immunity
    • Immune responses and vaccines
      • Calculation of infection fatality rate
      • Various Immune responses
      • Different vaccines
      • Trials and results
      • Vaccination and next steps
    • Is it wise to vaccinate?
    • Test, trace & isolate.
    • Different tests
    • Avoid contimination
    • No herd immunity
    • A safe and efficient COVID-19 Vaccine
    • The disease and long-term effects
    • Lost at familiar property
    • Corona Dashboard. 2.0
    • How to fight COVID-19
  • ORTEC
    • P4O2 COVID-19
    • Data science leukemia
    • ​Data to improve patient care
    • Clinical decision support
    • U-Prevent
  • Federa
    • Associations of the Federa
  • Hartblik - blogs