We run two meetings or talks a year in April and September.
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East Surrey WI Science Group - 30 September 2020
"INFECTIOUS DISEASES INCLUDING CORONAVIRUS - are we winning the battle"
Members came from all over Surrey – 89 attended - about 33 different WI’s which of course would not have happened if the talk took place in The White Hart Barn in Godstone, as it should have done, pre Covid-19. Bearing in mind the weather that evening, I expect many members were glad they could sit in their own homes!
The presentation was first class. It was given in a straight forward manner in a language which, for those of us without any scientific background, could understand. Prof. Jones commenced the talk by referring to infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance now causing a dangerous crisis for the modern world. Infectious diseases affect the lower income countries the most. Previous pandemics such as Small Pox, Bubonic Plague and Spanish Flue killed millions. The Spanish Flue alone killed at least 25 million in 6 months and was transmitted to humans from wild fowl. With animals and humans in close proximity this allows diseases to flip from one to another.
It was a disturbing to learn that bacteria can re-produce every 20 minutes, so after washing up at night, if the water is left in the sink it would be full of bacteria the next morning. To eliminate bacteria there must be good hygiene and sanitation: to prevent bacterial infection a vaccine is required and to cure bacterial diseases, antibiotics are required - such as penicillin.
Resistance to drugs is a continuing problem. There is an excessive use of these drugs in animal feeds (in that regard, the USA is biggest user in the world and this needs reversing), along with over prescribing. In addition, many people prescribed antibiotics do not complete the course given, because they are feeling better, so leaving a pool of potentially resistant germs.
In recent years there has been a decline in the number of new antibacterial drugs being developed. There is now a need for companies to work together to find new antibiotic drugs. On the 9th July 2020 pharmaceutical industry leaders set aside a fund of 1 billion US Dollars for this purpose. Rapid diagnostic tests would also be valuable.
Prof. Jones then moved on to Covid-19 which he stated is an extremely dangerous virus. If you have the virus and after 8-10 days no symptoms appear, then you should recover. After that time there could be a jump in symptoms, especially respiratory distress. The virus may also attach other organs which might lead to a ‘Long COVID’ condition, affecting brains, lungs, heart and intestines. A consortium of leading companies has joined forces to combat this virus. Diagnostic testing should be targeted at ‘at risk’ communities. Many companies are developing vaccines to stimulate an immune response. Since January 139 vaccines are in pre-clinical trials. Next month tough decisions will have to be made as to whether some of these at the later stages of clinical trials are safe enough for widespread use.
Another approach is to grow antibodies in the laboratory and inject these to kill the virus - Anti-viral drugs specifically designed to kill COVID-19 are needed. Some existing drugs ae being studied to see if they can be repurposed against COVID-19 whilst the search for entirely new drugs continue. The latter may take a year or so to prove they are adequately safe. As at 19 Sept there were 660 clinical trials in US; 290 in China and others in Iran, Spain and Egypt.
Prof. Jones ended his talk by noting that by 30 September 1.09 million COVID-19 deaths were recorded. Therefore, until we have vaccines, we must reduce transmission of the virus from person to person. We all need to understand just how long 2 metres is – it is further than most people realise - and also follow the ‘HANDS FACE SPACE’ rules.
Comments on the 25 September 2019
- The start of the industrial evolution which meant mining coal for the steam engine, burning fossil fuel and now oil and gas
- Population growth
- Deforestation (trees ‘eat’ carbon)
- Soil degrading through deep ploughing
- The amount of fertilisers on crops which do not soak into the soil but run off and into streams, etc.
- Global warming
- Dams – which result in no more sediment going down rivers and out to sea forming deltas - and the reservoirs are silting up as a consequence
- Transforming the earth’s surface, eg palm oil plantations, and 75% of the terrestrial biosphere has buildings on it.
- Radioactivity – in the air and there is more in our part of the world
- Plastic – 299 million tons
- Microbeads in creams
- Fleeces made from plastic bottles and when washed small particles go into the water.
- Transporting invasive plants
- Domesticated animals - now 65% more than wild ones
- Humans are damaging our life support system – but it is not too late for change if there is the right sustainable development.
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