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Biotech / Medical : SARS and Avian Flu -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Biomaven who wrote (775)	5/10/2003 11:34:29 PM
From: Wyätt Gwyön	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4232

i asked you this before, but it may have been missed (as i was also asking other questions which you answered)--is there any data on whether people who recover from SARS are immune to subsequent infection? perhaps it is too early for such data, but is there any reason to think reinfection would happen, or is there a reason to think it is a one-time affair like chicken pox? if it is like the flu, then you could get it every year, not a nice thought. TIA

To: Biomaven who wrote (775)	5/11/2003 1:53:29 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4232

Peter, what's RSV? Each bug type has a doubling period, so to reach a large number of people, each infection type has to go through quite a few doublings and incubation periods to reach a LOT of people. If one person is infected on 1 October, a slowly doubling bug with a quick cure rate and short transmissible period would have a hard job of being an epidemic. It might take until spring to be rampant. A quick doubling bug with a long transmissible period would take over quickly and be epidemic early in winter. That's my guess on why different infections peak at different times. The degree of immunity would affect propagation rates too. If few are immune, many will be vectors for transmission, if many are immune, few people will be vectors and life for the bug would be like a door to door encyclopedia salesman looking for sales and new sales agents = it would take them all winter to get going. I suppose there are many variables which determine the propagation rate. Since droplets are a major transmission method for respiratory infections, dry air, heated over red hot or very hot elements or furnaces, is sure to be a major hassle for such bugs. Pasteurized air is a good thing. Mqurice