3 ms·
> Is there specific evidence to suggest that COVID-19 will cause extremely high rates of lung cancer in 30 years? Perhaps not "extremely high", but there are l
by kerkeslager 7y ago
> Is there specific evidence to suggest that COVID-19 will cause extremely high rates of lung cancer in 30 years?
Perhaps not "extremely high", but there are lots of other cases where viruses attacking human tissue much less severely are known to cause cancer. HSV causing cervical cancer is probably the most obvious example, but there are many others.
This is well outside my area of expertise, but what I've read leads me to believe that the way viruses reproduce is particularly prone to resulting in mutations in the human cells it attacks.
It would surprise me a bit if Covid19 didn't increase the chance of cancer at some level, although it might be a very small effect.
> I think you have to compare the (very real!) risks of a challenge trial with the risks of not doing a challenge trial. Maybe it does only speed up development by two months, and the number of health care workers and other members of the public who will die in that time is low enough to not be worth risking the lives of study participants. But that is a question we need to actually look at and consider!
That's true. No questions should ever be off the table.
But it didn't sound much like asking a question when you said upthread, "I'm honestly a little surprised there's even a debate about this. The choice seems pretty clear to me." That's why I responded the way I did.
- Wowfunhappy 7y agoI'm surprised there's even a debate about whether it's ethical in theory. As in, I see doctors overly attached to the "do no harm" mantra to the point where the alternative isn't being looked at. I didn't mean to imply a cost-benefit analysis shouldn't be done.