Deaf PhD student on zoonotic diseases

FAROVITCH:
My name is Lorne. I grew up in Arizona, went to Gallaudet University then Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and now University of Rochester. I am currently studying for my PhD on zoonotic diseases. Studying zoonotic diseases means I study diseases that are spread from animals. The majority of diseases start from animals that spread amongst each other and then it is later transmitted onto people before people start spreading the disease.

THE DAILY MOTH:
And the coronavirus is classified as a zoonotic disease, correct?

FAROVITCH:
Correct.

THE DAILY MOTH:
Can you explain more of what these diseases are?

FAROVITCH:
The coronavirus is a specific type of viruses. Coronavirus is one of many, numerous types of viruses. There are approximately 200 different types of coronaviruses. For example, I’m Lorne (signs name) there are different Lornes with different shirts. I have a black shirt. There is a different Lorne with with long sleeves and there’s a Lorne with no shirt at all. It’s the same concept with the coronavirus. They have different antigens. some have that specific shapes of antigens, some have different antigens, some have these differences.

Most coronaviruses come from bats. There seems to be not enough studies to really pinpoint how exactly these viruses were passed on, but it seems that bats transmitted it onto some kind of other animals. At the wildlife market where people buy animals — then they become sick after consuming these infected animals which is usually followed by some sort of an outbreak.

THE DAILY MOTH:
That’s really interesting how historically these outbreaks usually originate from animals. What makes the novel coronavirus such a serious issue nowadays?

FAROVITCH:
Like I just mentioned about having different kinds of Lornes. I am wearing this black shirt. Perhaps people will not find me as attractive while wearing this shirt. However, it is a Lorne with long sleeves and a hoodie, more people might be more drawn to me. It’s the same concept with the coronavirus. There are approximately 200 types of coronaviruses split into 7 specific strains that are more easily transmitted among people leading to higher chance of outbreaks. There have been similar outbreaks in the past including MERS and SARS which are also coronaviruses. The MERS and SARS outbreaks were not as widespread compared to the current outbreak with 2019-nCov because the conditions are perfect for the strain making it easier to invade our bodies and continue spreading the disease.

Although it is similar to previous strains, it seems that the current coronavirus is more contagious because it’s easily transmitted through coughing and sneezing. When we do this, droplets of infected virus fly out. Whether it’s on an object or directly, people absorb the virus through their eyes or mouth then they could get sick. People who are actually sick can spread the virus. People who have been exposed to it, but have not gotten sick, cannot spread the virus immediately. It typically takes a week for the virus to spread within the body and to show symptoms like sneezing or high fever. It is at this point when a person becomes contagious.

THE DAILY MOTH:
So, you must be symptomatic to be contagious, correct?

FAROVITCH:
Correct.

THE DAILY MOTH:
However, there has been discussions that the virus can be spread even without showing any symptoms. From your viewpoint, is that true or not?

FAROVITCH:
No. Often a lot of reporters or the news will release misinformation or sometimes scientists find something that they thought was correct, but later it turns out to be something else. When you think of the world ‘research’, it means you have to “re — search.” Keep on searching for data and information. They’ve confirmed that the virus cannot be spread unless you’re symptomatic.

THE DAILY MOTH:
Understood, now let’s talk about the death toll. We’ll be approaching 500 deaths soon. It is concerning how deadly this virus seems to be. With the flu, every year is different, and it does kill thousands of people every year. Why is there so much attention on the coronavirus where we could do the same for the flu? Shouldn’t we be equally concerned? Is that something that people think can be easily solved with vaccination? Can you explain the reasoning behind these different reactions?

FAROVITCH:
Sure, I am going to pull up some data — there’s current data that is uploaded every hour with coronavirus cases. Recently at 10:43, that’s 30 minutes ago, there are 24,613 cases worldwide. 494 people have died due to the coronavirus. 1,028 people have recovered from the coronavirus. With all this data, in overall the coronavirus isn’t as bad as the flu where there is just 2% chance of dying from it. Whereas with the flu virus , there is a 10% chance of dying from it. There are many reasons why there’s been so much attention towards the coronavirus. It’s a new virus and there are no medications for it. There are no vaccinations for it so people are concerned about how they can protect themselves from it. On the other hand, with the flu, it is a very controversial topic. People like to avoid these taboo topics and controversial topics surrounding the flu. Some people don’t vaccinate for different beliefs and reasons. At the end of the day we actually should be more concerned about the flu than the coronavirus.

THE DAILY MOTH:
It’s really interesting how these numbers are affecting our perception. The current coronavirus outbreak seems like a death sentence. As if you got it, you’ll die. The way people have reacted to it — such as cruise ships being docked, the plane being quarantined. It looks very scary even though the flu has a higher death rate. It’s interesting how we’ve reacted.

How can we prevent infection? What can we do?

FAROVITCH:
The most important preventive strategy is to wash our hands. That’s been the number one priority for many years now. It’s important to wash your hands with soap and warm water. Scrubbing soap into your hands creates these bubbles that will bind the virus and bacteria particles before being rinsed off with water. This prevents any transmission of the infectious particles. If you’re in the bathroom and unable to wash your hands, you can choose the second option which is still a good approach. You could use hand sanitizer though it’s not the best option. Washing your hands is the best option. You could use a mask, but you should do some research on what kind of masks you should use. However, as long as we’re in the United States, I wouldn’t be concerned. The United States has a strong public health care system that protects us well.

THE DAILY MOTH:
It seems to be very basic with just washing your hands while on the news, they’re showing pictures of what’s happening in Wuhan, China. People are walking around in hazmat suits. Do you feel that it’s an appropriate response or is their response over the top?

FAROVITCH:
It’s appropriate for people who work in the health care field. It’s important for them to use these suits to protect them while they work with the sick patients. This way they cannot get infected, but for normal people like us, the important thing really is to understand how to detect the signs. If they have a cough or a sneeze, I’d try to avoid them and not shake their hands. Typically, droplets from sneezes can travel up to 6 feet so you’re fine if you’re further away from this. If you do shake their hands, then that’s fine as long as you wash your hands.

THE DAILY MOTH:
Now, they’ve said they’re in process of developing a vaccine so what does it require to develop a vaccine? How long does the process usually take and what does that look like?

FAROVITCH:
It really depends on a lot of factors. There is money involved. Do they have enough scientists who are experts in the field? Do they have enough research that will help them detect and target specific antigens with the goal of stopping its viral function. It seems that we’ve already started discovering different approaches since 2003. That’s good news for us and it means we’re making progress. It might take a few months to maybe 2 or 3 years, depending on the resources that we have. Also, there seems to be some good news coming out lately, people in Thailand gave their infected citizens three different antiviral medications. The first two is for HIV while the third is for the flu. When they gave their sick patients with all 3 medications, they’ve recovered faster than usual. That could possibly be a good treatment plan, but we need to go through the clinical trial testing to make sure that these medications are safe to take for the majority of the population and that they don’t come with serious side effects.

THE DAILY MOTH:
That process is a lot of work to go through. People generally don’t have the patience to do that. That seems to be what the government has responded by setting up quarantines. They don’t want to allow the virus any time to circulate among the general population. If there are no vaccinations yet, and it could take 3 years like you said, how did it end for these outbreaks like SARS or other epidemics.

FAROVITCH:
Vaccination is a really important factor. Throughout history, we’ve had many severe outbreaks like with the Spanish Flu in 1918 that killed millions of people. We had the measles, polio and a long list of diseases that were neutralized through vaccination. It teaches our immune system and our white blood cells to identify, target and neutralize these infectious cells quickly. If we didn’t have vaccination, the disease would have time to spread in our body while our body tries to figure how to respond. It could be too late because the virus has spread too much for our body to fight it off. That’s why vaccination is so important. If you don’t receive vaccination, then you would be quarantined to restrict the virus’ movement until the patients either recover or die from the disease. With quarantine, the chances of being successful isn’t as likely. With our transportation system and many modes of travel, people can get sick, but not show symptoms until later. That’s why we’re seeing cases in the United States and in other countries. They typically don’t know that they’re sick until a week later when they start showing symptoms. When they do, we’ll quarantine them until they’re released so we do have a good system here in the United States.

It’s important for people who live in the United States to pay attention to the CDC. That’s the Centers for Disease Control. They’re responsible for protecting our country against diseases. If the CDC sends out warnings or declares a national emergency, then that means we should be concerned. The World Health Organization (WHO) is more responsible for the global community. They are concerned because there are many countries that don’t have strong public health care systems. They’re more concerned about the whole world rather than just the United States.

THE DAILY MOTH:
When it comes the United States, the CDC is responsible.

FAROVITCH:
Correct.

THE DAILY MOTH:
What have you seen from the CDC so far?

FAROVITCH:
It seems that they’re saying that a lot of things under control. They do expect a number of additional cases moving forward. They say they’ll be able to manage the situation by making sure the sick patients are quarantined until they’ve healed. It seems that we’ll be fine.

THE DAILY MOTH:
Thank you so much, Lorne, for your time explaining all this!

FAROVITCH:
Thank you for having me here.