Scientists are already working on a coronavirus vaccine
Scientists are already working on a coronavirus vaccine – but warn it will likely be years before there is a shot to prevent the contagious illness which has so far killed 17 people
- A new coronavirus has sickened more than 500 people worldwide and killed 17 in China, where it originated
- The first US case was reported Tuesday and, by Wednesday, it had reached at least five nations outside China
- Scientist began working on a coronavirus outbreak during the SARS outbreak of 2003 and published a paper on it in 2017
- Now, they hope to take lessons from that shot to develop one against the new virus
- A World Health Organization committee met Wednesday to discuss declaring the outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’
- But the group has punted the decision, promising to reconvene ‘early’ Thursday
US scientists are already working to develop a vaccine against the new coronavirus that has killed 17 in China, where it originated, and spread to more than 500 people there and in five other nations.
A pneumonia-like respiratory infection outbreak is stoking pandemic fears as it arrives in the US with cases are suspected in Mexico, Colombia, UK and Australia.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday remained undecided whether to declare it a ‘public health emergency of international concern on Wednesday, instead opting to reconvene their emergency meeting
The new illness, currently referred to as 2019-nCoV, belongs to the same family of viruses as SARS, which broke out in China in 2003 and eventually killing 774 people worldwide.
Shaken by that outbreak, scientists got to work on a vaccine against the virus, but as SARS subsided, so did need, interest and investment in the shot.
Now, the hope is that vaccine could be retooled to prevent the newly-discovered virus that’s now sickened 532 people.
But it’s likely to be years before the shot is made to fit the new virus and gets through safety testing, Dr Peter Hotez, Dean of Tropical Medicine, at Baylor College of Medicine, who is contributing to the effort, told DailyMail.com.
Scientists are already working on a vaccine against the new coronavirus stemming from Wuhan China, but say it could be years before it’s ready for use in humans (file)
He worked on the vaccine back in the early 2000s, when a coronavirus – severe acute respiratory syndrome – emerged as a serious threat to public health for the first time.
‘After each of these epidemics, the scientific community – including our group – responded and developed that prototype vaccine,’ Dr Hotez explained.
‘But then when the threat died down, the investment community no longer wanted to continue to contribute to it.’
WHAT IS THE NEW CORONAVIRUS SPREADING FROM CHINA?
An outbreak of pneumonia-like illnesses began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
Its symptoms are typically a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs.
Scientists in China recognized its similarity to two viruses that turned into global killers: SARS and MERS.
SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome is caused by the SARS coronavirus, known as SARS Co, and first emerged in China in 2002.
By the end of the outbreak, the virus had spread to several other Asian countries as well as the UK and Canada, killing 774.
MERS, or Middle East respirator syndrome originated in the region for which it’s named, ultimately killed 787 people and belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as SARS.
The new virus wasn’t a match for either of those two, but it did belong to the same coronavirus family.
Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, and most cause mild respiratory infections – i.e. the common cold.
But because the SARS and MERS proved deadly, the emergence of another new coronavirus has health officials on edge around the world.
Like its two dangerous cousins, the new coronavirus appears to have originated with animals – particularly seafood, chickens, bats, marmots – found at a Wuhan market that’s been identified as the epicenter of the outbreak.
The symptoms of SARS, which may be similar to those of the new coronavirus, include:
- a high temperature (fever)
- extreme tiredness (fatigue)
- headaches
- chills
- muscle pain
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea
After these symptoms, the infection will begin to affect your lungs and airways (respiratory system), leading to additional symptoms, such as:
- a dry cough
- breathing difficulties
- an increasing lack of oxygen in the blood, which can be fatal in the most severe cases
So far, there isn’t a treatment for the new virus or SARS, though the new virus has been sequenced, allowing for rapid diagnostics.
In 2017, a team of collaborators from China and the New York Blood Center published a paper on the ability of their prototype vaccine to ‘neutralize’ SARS-like coronaviruses.
Manufacturing began at some point, Hotez said, but the money wasn’t there to send the vaccine through clinical trials.
Now, another coronavirus has appeared, originating in Wuhan, China, where it’s sickened an estimated 524, officials said Wednesday.
Seventeen have died in China and cases of the virus have now been reported in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the US.
Investigations into possible cases are underway in Australia, the UK, Mexico and Colombia.
It’s the first time in nearly a decade since the last serious coronavirus outbreak (MERS, or Middle Easter respiratory syndrome) began in Saudi Arabia began in 2012, that attention has been paid to the family of usually mild viruses.
‘It’s true that [response to ] a lot of pandemics kind of resembles a little kids’ soccer game,’ says Dr Hotez.
‘The ball goes one direction and all the kids run after it. Then it goes the other way, and everyone runs that way.’
In general, though, he says that the scientific community’s response to coronavirus outbreaks has been swift and efficient – and it’s gotten faster with each.
Identification and genomic sequencing of the virus ‘took over a year with SARS, with MERS it was a matter of months and, now, with this new one, it’s a matter of days to weeks,’ says Dr Hotez.’
‘That’s pretty impressive.’
Now, he and his collaborators are workign to see if it could ‘cross-protect against other coronaviruses,’ Dr Hotez said.
‘It’s clearly a different virus though, so we’ll have to see how close it is. We’re all sort of scrambling here to see how promising this will be.’
In other words, it’s very early days.
And impressed though Dr Hotez is with the expediency of international community’s response to the outbreak has been, we’re a long way off from having a preventive shot ready.
‘We have to do a lot of safety testing, formal toxicology, go through the national regulatory authorities…there’s still a lot of breaking it down before you could even begin human clinical trial testing,’ he says.
‘There is nothing fast about vaccines…though things may be accelerated if things it turns out to be an a real public health emergency.’
World Health Organization (WHO) representatives met Wednesday to discuss just that – whether to declare the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and is expected to announce its decision later today.
THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA TIMELINE
December 31 2019: Total of 27 suspected cases
The WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Around 27 suspected cases were reported in the month of December.
January 1 2020: Total of 27 suspected cases
A seafood market was closed for environmental sanitation and disinfection after being closely linked with the patients.
January 5 2020: Total of 59 suspected cases
Doctors ruled out severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as being the cause of the virus, as well as bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome and adenovirus. Meanwhile, Hong Kong reported suspected cases.
January 9 2020: Total of 59 confirmed cases, one death
A preliminary investigation identified the respiratory disease as a new type of coronavirus, Chinese state media reported.
Officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the outbreak’s first death on January 9, a 61-year-old man.
January 13 2020: Total of 42 confirmed cases, one death
A Chinese woman in Thailand was the first confirmed case of the mystery virus outside of China. The 61-year-old was quarantined on January 8, but has since returned home in a stable condition after having treatment, the Thai Health Ministry said.
January 14 2020: Total of 42 confirmed cases, one death
The WHO told hospitals around the globe to prepare, in the ‘possible’ event of the infection spreading.
It said there is some ‘limited’ human-to-human transmission of the virus. Two days previously, the UN agency said there was ‘no clear evidence of human to human transmission’.
January 16 2020: Total of 43 cases, two deaths
A man in Tokyo is confirmed to have tested positive for the disease after travelling to the Chinese city of Wuhan.
A second death, a 69-year-old man, was reported by officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. He died in the early hours of January 15 at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan city having first been admitted to hospital on December 31.
January 17 2020: Total of 44 cases, two deaths
Thailand announces it has detected a second case. The 74-year-old woman had been quarantined since her arrival on Monday. She lived in Wuhan.
Scientists at Imperial College London fear up to 4,500 patients in Wuhan may have caught the virus. A report said if cases are this high, substantial human to human transmission can’t be ruled out.
John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), San Francisco International Airport and Los Angles International Airport (LAX) will start screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, US officials said.
January 18 2020: Total of 48 cases, two deaths
Thailand steps up monitoring at four airports receiving daily flights from Wuhan. Airports in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore are also screening passengers from Wuhan, authorities said.
Four more cases have been identified in a viral pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, bringing the total to 45 in the city alone.
January 19 2020: Total of 65 cases, two deaths
China reported 17 more cases of pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus strain had been found in Wuhan. It takes the city’s total to 62, including two deaths, and the global total to 65.
All of the cases to this point involved people either living in Wuhan or who have travelled to the city.
Public Health England and Britain’s chief medical officer said they would not be introducing screenings at UK airports at this point.
January 20 2020: Total of 222 cases, three deaths.
China reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus over the weekend, including 136 more cases in Wuhan city, taking its total to 198.
The outbreak spread across China; five cases in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, and one in Shanghai.
South Korea confirmed its first case – a 35-year-old woman arriving at Seoul’s Incheon airport tested positive for the virus. She had been in Wuhan the week prior. This took the total cases outside China to four.
Details were not revealed about the third death.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said saving lives was a top priority, adding that information about the disease was being released in a ‘timely manner’.
China’s National Health Commission team confirmd the virus can spread between humans.
Two patients in southern China also caught the virus from infected family members, according to local media.
The WHO announced it would hold an emergency meeting to debate whether the outbreak should be declared an international public health emergency.
January 21 2020: Total of 308 confirmed cases, six deaths
On this day, the death toll rose to six.
The fourth person had died on January 19, an 89-year-old man who developed symptoms, including severe breathing difficulties, on January 13.
The mayor of Wuhan announced two more victims of the lethal infection – a 66-year-old man, known only as Li, and a 48-year-old woman, known only as Yin. Both died from multiple organ failure.
Authorities also said 15 medical workers in the city were included in the confirmed cases. There is also one other suspected case. Of the infected staff, one was in critical condition.
The first American – a man in his 30s – was confirmed to have the new coronavirus outside Seattle in Washington state.
Washington officials said he was in ‘good’ condition but was in isolation and being closely monitored at Providence Regional Medical Center – Everett, near his home in Snahomish County.
The CDC announced that all passengers arriving to Wuhan from direct or connecting flights would be re-ticketed and rerouted through the three airports with screening already set up and two additional airports, Chicago O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.
A Brisbane man is being held in isolation over fears he may have contracted the deadly coronavirus while in Wuhan.
Queensland’s chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young confirmed the man has been tested for the illness when he presented with flu-like symptoms after returning home. The results are still unknown.
Australia began screening passengers arriving from a Chinese city in a bid to stop the spread, Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer for the Australian government, said.
The Philippines also announced that it was investigating its first potential case of the coronavirus. A five-year-old child arrived in the country on January 12 from Wuhan and has since been hospitalised with flu symptoms.
Taiwan reported its first confirmed case. Health officials announced the woman, thought to be around 50 years old, worked in Wuhan. She is currently in hospital receiving treatment, according to local media.
Stock markets in China and Hong Kong dipped today amid fears tourists will refrain from travelling. But shares in firms which make surgical face masks have surged.
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