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Pastimes : SARS - what next?
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To: Ilaine who wrote (532)6/18/2003 11:44:13 PM
From: Henry Niman   of 1070
 
It looks like some on Free Republic are confused between SARS and the 1918 flu epidemic. The 1918 epidemic was caused by a flu virus which was likely to have been a recombinant between a flu strain and a bird strain. Its spread was facilitate by WWI troops and after quieting down in the summer, it killed 10's of MILLIONS in the following fall.

SARS in contrast is caused by a unique coronavirus. Humans get infected by coronaviruses which cause about 30% of common colds. The cold viruses are similar to SARS coronavirus, but quite distinct. The SARS coronaviruses are primarily deletion mutants who have lost 29 nt and decapitated a 122 aa protein in the process (the natural SARS coronavirus is found in severla species and is very similar to the SARS virus except the 29 nt are retained). 17/18 sequenced SARS coronaviruses have this deletion mutation. Those linked to the Metropole Hotel also have an additional 7 point mutations. Some of these point mutations are being mixed and matched via recombinations between one SARS coronavirus and another SARS coronavirus.

Thus far there have not been any isolates that are recombinants beween SARS coronaviruses and human coronaviruses that cause colds, such as 229E or OC49. However, there are some regions of significant homology in the genomes of both types of coronaviruses and co-infection by SARS coronavirus and cold coronaviruses could lead to recombinants that could be more infectious (like the cold virus), but still cause a fatal pneumonia (like the SARS virus).

SARS is an emerging disease and the fall may bring some major problems and surprises.
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