Microbiologist Murk agrees. He describes the infection as a ‘war’, but then in the body: “If there are ten men in front of the fort, it is usually possible to keep them out for the most part. If there are a million, it becomes a different story. you also know if people who are exposed to a lot of virus get sick earlier. You expect that, but we don’t know yet. “
Medicines and vaccine
Much is still unknown about the course of the infection. For example, microbiologist Murk is diligently looking for an answer why corona patients first have relatively mild complaints for an average of one week. To get better afterwards or to regress. “It suggests that the immune system may play a role in the course,” he says. Certainly he does not, and due to the lack of that kind of knowledge, no proven medicine is known.
There are, however, dozens of studies worldwide on such a drug. That’s a tricky quest, Murk says. “For example, you need to know when to start treatment. We know from the flu that a medicine no longer makes sense if it is used too late. Perhaps this is the case with this virus, so that some medicines may already be unnecessary as useless. are labeled. “
The search for a vaccine is just as complex. Virologist Bart Haagmans of Erasmus MC has to think for a moment when asked how many of his colleagues are now working on one of the more than forty candidate vaccines that have now been reported to WHO. Thousands? “I think so,” he says. “The first studies are already entering phase one, where people are being tested. That is incredibly fast.”
But only after phase three, when the vaccine has been extensively tested on a large group of test subjects, can it be concluded whether it actually works. Haagmans expects these studies to be completed by the end of this year or early next year.
He is hopeful that a vaccine will eventually be found. After that, the virus is likely to line up with the four other recurring coronaviruses, which in most cases lead to the common cold. The virus will not disappear, he expects. Haagmans: “It is now so widespread. Reducing completely to zero will be difficult.”
What remains to be done before we can expect a final corona vaccine? NOS on 3 figured it out:
–
