I remember the first time I traveled to the Far East.  So many folks were wearing masks.  It wasn’t until years later that I actually visited Chinatown in New York and saw the same phenomena.

Lately, we are all seeing these facemasks everywhere.  Not because of an influx of folks from the Far East, but because we are once again panicked by a public health emergency.  Almost 20 years after the SARS epidemic, we have a new coronavirus attack.  (Note that coronaviruses range from the common cold to SARS to this pneumonia-like catastrophe; generally yielding respiratory compromises.)

20 years ago, China tried to hide the emergency (SARS) from the world.  Like that worked.  This time, they are being more honest (especially since they are more rich and feel there would be less pushback).

But, to be honest, those masks…

I will be totally honest. If we  are really careful, we really buy the goods, we really take them off the right way…they might help.

Most of the masks you see folks wearing are dirt cheap surgical masks.  And, they don’t eliminate the ability to inhale infectious particles- they simply attenuate the risk.   And, that’s not including the fact that the  infection can bypass the sides of the mask- or enter our bodies via our (much) exposed eyes.

A real  surgical face mask has a colored band (yellow, blue) with an elastic strap or wire to tighten it around one’s face.  The colored side faces out- we need to have the absorbent side facing in. And it damned well better be snug over our mouth, chin, and nose.  (Now you know why the metal strip is at the top- so we can snugly form the mask above our noses.)

But, now, how we take it off makes an even bigger difference.  We have to assume that the mask we donned to protect us is now replete with the infections we want to avoid.  So we remove it by getting those straps off our ears- not by lowering it from our mouths.

Here comes the kicker.  The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) doesn’t believe these masks will do the job.  Nope. If we are going to be protected we have to use the N95 mask-  along with gloves and eye protectors.  Of course, these masks require even more care and fitting than the regular masks- so, if we don’t set them up right, we’ll be back where we were with the other (less qualified) masks.

But, just imagine if we lived in China- where some 200 million masks a day probably aren’t making a dent in the current demand!  Just because the disease started in Wuhan (11 million folks in the middle of nowhere) doesn’t mean the rest of China is not affected.

Not to mention the fact that China is unwilling (finally) to suffer the same consequences it did when it tried to hide the SARS epidemic (2002) that was overtaking its country years ago.  Which is why they’ve been more forthcoming about Wuhan and the unknown (although akin to pneumonia) viral disease that is overtaking the region.  (NOTE:  They have not been totally honest about the number who succumbed; they’ve classified  a bunch of deaths as ‘other’.)

This coronavirus, aka, 2019-nCoV or Wuhan-Hu-1, was seemingly born around Christmas in Wuhan, China.  It was amazingly identified and sequenced (thanks to our wonderful advances in biochemical engineering) in very short order.

Until recently, there were few instances of coronavirus jumping from animals to people (SARS was the glaring counter-example).  The key to enable such jumping is the structure of the host cell receptor (that means the protein that is on the surface of the cells upon which the virus latches).  If that protein is the same in bats, camels, pigs- and humans….then, we are about to see that species jump.

 

The same SARS receptor (ACE2, angiotensin converting enzyme 2) exists for bats and humans.  So..boom!  SARS jumped species.  Unfortunately, this new coronavirus uses the same receptor.  But…there’s more.  2019-nCoV  is also part of that same cluster of bat virus, another pandemic strain.

These bat viruses that pertain in Yunan Province – and Guangdong Province- (both in Southwest China) have been infecting humans for a while.   Studies of the local population have indicated that some 3% of the population carries the virus!  Either these folks managed to shake the infection, or more likely, the local health professionals misdiagnosed it.  (Just like they did with SARS and now with this new virus).   When you add in wild animal markets, unsanitary conditions, and multiple interactions with humans, the ignition conditions are ripe!  Other animals get infected, humans handle them (and their excrement), and boom!

China truly needs to invoke sanitation regulations (wearing of gloves, hand washing)- but more to the point- outlaw the collection and sale of wild animals. China has been allowing these wild animals (such as bats) to co-mingle with humans in a contaminated environment.  So, their government is just perpetrating a major public health threat against the world.  (Right now, China has closed down the open, wild markets- but only temporarily.  Mostly to protect their own populations- but also to show the world that when this threat is alleviated, tourism in China will return.  [Hmm. It’s also down in reaction to the Hong Kong revolts.])

Because when you get down to it, this pandemic isn’t much different from our problem with cardiac disease.  We don’t wait until the disease is killing us to deal with it-  we work to change our habits before we succumb.

But, the world attention to the crisis has provided a benefit.  The rapid sequencing of the coronavirus means we can seek a cure.  The genetic code is available for public release and laboratories around the world are trying to find a treatment.  The (US) National Center for Biotechnology Information is sharing that data right here.  Which made it possible for a slew of researchers (here in the US there’s Purdue, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Northwestern seeking to create a vaccine)  to get involved. (Don’t forget that this virus is pretty similar to that of the SARS outbreak that killed some 800 folks – about 10% who developed the disease.)

Let’s hope we have some resolution soon.

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