5 ms·

Wait, you'd think that the four human coronaviruses that supposedly confer partial immunity against COVID-19 are endemic all over the world. If that's the case,

Wait, you'd think that the four human coronaviruses that supposedly confer partial immunity against COVID-19 are endemic all over the world. If that's the case, why is Brazil doing so badly?

cperciva 6y ago
Coronaviruses are strongly affected by climate -- that's why we have "cold season". Maybe the endemic coronaviruses aren't endemic in Brazil's warm and humid climate?
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  Warm and humid can go both ways, because sometimes it means more time indoors wherever there is climate control, shade or cold drinks at-hand. And the poorer/denser the country, even more congregation in the fewer climate controlled spaces there are.
  - scythe 6y ago
    Brazil's not that oppressive outside, although Manaus in particular is. São Paulo sits at 6-700 m AMSL. Brasilia is around 1200m. It helps.
maxerickson 6y ago
The paper addresses that question briefly: It is unclear whether this antibody reactivity may confer clinical benefits, for instance, modulating the severity of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. I think quantifying any protective effect is gonna be pretty difficult.
- Animats 6y ago
  Right. What this seems to be saying is that, for one tiny area of Vancover, BC, 90% of the people tested with a very sensitive antibody test showed that their immune system had encountered some relevant coronavirus and had reacted to it. Is that right? The trouble is that the article has a clickbait title: "A majority of uninfected adults show pre-existing antibody reactivity against SARS-CoV-2". Which may get translated into "We already have herd immunity" by some television pundit shortly.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    Is it clickbait? It's a journal article, and as far as I can tell "antibody reactivity" is the correct technical term for what they're describing. Certainly some pundits will misinterpret it, but I don't think we can expect researchers to shape everything they write to avoid PR misunderstandings.
  - throwawayfrauds 6y ago
    I’d say that everything about this article is the opposite of clickbait. It’s not buzzfeed, it’s a science journal.
caiomassan 6y ago
You have to take into consideration a lot when thinking about Brazil. - the midia and the president are of two different gangs - data gathering in Brazil is a joke, the true numbers can be double the ones reported for more or less.
- outworlder 6y ago
  Easily double. Probably way more than that. I guess the only way to know is from excess deaths statistics. Even that is confounded by the collapse of the health care system.
  - kshacker 6y ago
    What happened to Brazil from being 1/4 of the BRICs countries a couple of decades back. I know Bolsonaro does not have cred in American media but was the system just a house of cards?
loveistheanswer 6y ago
>you'd think that the four human coronaviruses that supposedly confer partial immunity against COVID-19 are endemic all over the world. What data is there that indicates this is the case?
mrfusion 6y ago
Is a lot of that perception coming from how the media reports it?
- cassianoleal 6y ago
  The fact that in many states there are people dying for lack of hospital beds is not "perception coming from how the media reports it". I'm Brazilian born and raised, and even though have been out for about 7 years most of my friends and family are still there. The fact that pretty much everybody I know over there knows at least a handful of people who have died of COVID-19 and hell knows how many that have had it is not "how the media reports it". The struggle is real, the situation is pretty dire over there.
74d-fe6-2c6 6y ago
Is it doing worse than before Corona? Or maybe it's just that media is now focusing on how bad the medical situation is?

Wait, you'd think that the four human coronaviruses that supposedly confer partial immunity against COVID-19 are endemic all over the world. If that's the case, why is Brazil doing so badly?

cperciva 6y ago

Coronaviruses are strongly affected by climate -- that's why we have "cold season". Maybe the endemic coronaviruses aren't endemic in Brazil's warm and humid climate?

Scoundreller 6y ago
Warm and humid can go both ways, because sometimes it means more time indoors wherever there is climate control, shade or cold drinks at-hand. And the poorer/denser the country, even more congregation in the fewer climate controlled spaces there are.
- scythe 6y ago
  Brazil's not that oppressive outside, although Manaus in particular is. São Paulo sits at 6-700 m AMSL. Brasilia is around 1200m. It helps.

maxerickson 6y ago

The paper addresses that question briefly: It is unclear whether this antibody reactivity may confer clinical benefits, for instance, modulating the severity of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. I think quantifying any protective effect is gonna be pretty difficult.

Animats 6y ago
Right. What this seems to be saying is that, for one tiny area of Vancover, BC, 90% of the people tested with a very sensitive antibody test showed that their immune system had encountered some relevant coronavirus and had reacted to it. Is that right? The trouble is that the article has a clickbait title: "A majority of uninfected adults show pre-existing antibody reactivity against SARS-CoV-2". Which may get translated into "We already have herd immunity" by some television pundit shortly.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  Is it clickbait? It's a journal article, and as far as I can tell "antibody reactivity" is the correct technical term for what they're describing. Certainly some pundits will misinterpret it, but I don't think we can expect researchers to shape everything they write to avoid PR misunderstandings.
- throwawayfrauds 6y ago
  I’d say that everything about this article is the opposite of clickbait. It’s not buzzfeed, it’s a science journal.

caiomassan 6y ago

You have to take into consideration a lot when thinking about Brazil. - the midia and the president are of two different gangs - data gathering in Brazil is a joke, the true numbers can be double the ones reported for more or less.

outworlder 6y ago
Easily double. Probably way more than that. I guess the only way to know is from excess deaths statistics. Even that is confounded by the collapse of the health care system.
- kshacker 6y ago
  What happened to Brazil from being 1/4 of the BRICs countries a couple of decades back. I know Bolsonaro does not have cred in American media but was the system just a house of cards?

loveistheanswer 6y ago

>you'd think that the four human coronaviruses that supposedly confer partial immunity against COVID-19 are endemic all over the world. What data is there that indicates this is the case?

mrfusion 6y ago

Is a lot of that perception coming from how the media reports it?

cassianoleal 6y ago
The fact that in many states there are people dying for lack of hospital beds is not "perception coming from how the media reports it". I'm Brazilian born and raised, and even though have been out for about 7 years most of my friends and family are still there. The fact that pretty much everybody I know over there knows at least a handful of people who have died of COVID-19 and hell knows how many that have had it is not "how the media reports it". The struggle is real, the situation is pretty dire over there.

74d-fe6-2c6 6y ago

Is it doing worse than before Corona? Or maybe it's just that media is now focusing on how bad the medical situation is?