Update: Cure for Corona?
Recently the deadly coronavirus has plagued over 76,000 people, killing around 2,100 so far. Its victims are mainly located in Asia but the disease continues to spread throughout Europe and North America. Scientists across the globe have been working non-stop to find a miracle cure for this flu-like illness that has ravaged its way onto nearly every television set in the world.
On February 20, 2020 researchers at the University of Texas announced to a world on edge that they have mapped the protein that allows the Coronavirus to attach to human cells and begin the infection. This might not seem like much of anything at all, but it is a critical step towards creating a vaccine. The only problem; it could take up to two years to produce.
It’s a race against the clock now as scientists study the new spike protein, but thousands of tests must take place on the vaccine before it can go into human trials. Now the concern is the possibility of the gene mutating before the vaccine can be sent out, making it void or at least not as helpful as it could have been.
With time, research and progress will continue to be made undergoing the Coronavirus, and hopefully a cure discovered before it reaches and affects us directly. However, it’s urged that people don’t stress too much over the virus thousands of miles away, when there are other things in close proximity that could have a greater affect on this area. While Cornavirus seems to be a drastic outbreak, what people are ignoring, is the Flu. There may be a pretty effective cure (shot) for this already, but what many people don’t know, is that about 56,000 people die from the flu each year. That’s almost 27x the death rate caused by the Coronavirus. However, the flu hasn’t mass spread like the Coronavirus has in a span of just a few months. If it continues to spread rapidly, the disease could become an even greater problem than it already is, and break out of China and further into North America. Hopefully the University of Texas can find a cure soon before this happens.
Jessica Ahart is a senior at BASH that has written for The Cub and taken journalism for the past four years. She also previously wrote for the West Press...