Is COVID-19 man-made?

Chaturvedi, Pankaj; Ramalingam, Natarajan; Singh, Arjun

doi:10.4103/crst.crst_166_20

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…A quickly retracted scientific preprint appeared to propagate this theory by providing it an undue sense of credibility [ 24 ]. Although the man-made theory was scientifically discredited [ 27 ], public discussion moved toward a “leak” of the virus [ 16 , 23 ], highlighting the evolution and adaptability of misinformation, especially when supported by public figures [ 62 ]. Editors, reviewers, and authors should maintain stringent safeguards to ensure appropriate publishing, even of preprints, especially regarding such sensitive topics [ 63 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Prevalence of Reactive Online Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study

Badell-Grau¹,

Cuff²,

Kelly³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

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Background The ongoing pandemic has placed an unprecedented strain on global society, health care, governments, and mass media. Public dissemination of government policies, medical interventions, and misinformation has been remarkably rapid and largely unregulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in increased misinterpretations, miscommunication, and public panic. Being the first full-scale global pandemic of the digital age, COVID-19 has presented novel challenges pertinent to government advice, the spread of news and misinformation, and the trade-off between the accessibility of science and the premature public use of unproven medical interventions. Objective This study aims to assess the use of internet search terms relating to COVID-19 information and misinformation during the global pandemic, identify which were most used in six affected countries, investigate any temporal trends and the likely propagators of key search terms, and determine any correlation between the per capita cases and deaths with the adoption of these search terms in each of the six countries. Methods This study uses relative search volume data extracted from Google Trends for search terms linked to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside per capita case and mortality data extracted from the European Open Data Portal to identify the temporal dynamics of the spread of news and misinformation during the global pandemic in six affected countries (Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States). A correlation analysis was carried out to ascertain any correlation between the temporal trends of search term use and the rise of per capita mortality and disease cases. Results Of the selected search terms, most were searched immediately following promotion by governments, public figures, or viral circulation of information, but also in relation to the publication of scientific resources, which were sometimes misinterpreted before further dissemination. Strong correlations were identified between the volume of these COVID-19–related search terms (overall mean Spearman rho 0.753, SD 0.158), and per capita mortality (mean per capita deaths Spearman rho 0.690, SD 0.168) and cases (mean per capita cases Spearman rho 0.800, SD 0.112). Conclusions These findings illustrate the increased rate and volume of the public consumption of novel information during a global health care crisis. The positive correlation between mortality and online searching, particularly in countries with lower COVID-19 testing rates, may demonstrate the imperative to safeguard official communications and dispel misinformation in these countries. Online news, government briefings, and social media provide a powerful tool for the dissemination of important information to the public during pandemics, but their misuse and the presentation of misrepresented medical information should be monitored, minimized, and addressed to safeguard public safety. Ultimately, governments, public health authorities, and scientists have a moral imperative to safeguard the truth and maintain an accessible discourse with the public to limit fear.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Prevalence of Reactive Online Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study

Badell-Grau¹,

Cuff²,

Kelly³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…They pointed to the country of origin i.e China for the spread of the virus due to lack of transparency from Chinese authority. In 2015, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was upgraded to the National Biosafety Laboratory (Level 4), the first of its kind in China, at a cost of 300 million Yuan ($44 million) (Chaturvedi et al, 2020). It would not be the first time that modern research in China drew the attention of the international community.…”

Section: Present Scenario Bioterrorismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving Dimension of Security: Bioterrorism

Yadav¹

2022

Unity Jnl

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Bioterrorism became a burning issue in the USA after the human-induced incidence of Anthrax and the attack on WTO in 2001. At present, the world is trapped in the COVID 19 pandemic having an estimated monetary loss of 76.69 billion USD, engulfed more than 4.5 million people, and 211 million suffering to date. There is increasing concern toward bioterrorism globally which can happen either intentionally or due to poor laboratory practices. In recent decades technological progress in bioscience has simplified the development of bioweapons. Moreover, the advancement of genetic engineering is chronic biologically. Over a hundred pathogens have been identified as possible bioterrorism agents. The research article aims to explore bioterrorism as an evolving dimension of threat to the public and national security in developing countries like Nepal. In present article introduction section deals with background, statement of the problem and rationale of our study. The main body deals with biological agents of bioterriorism and their targets, history, present scenario of bioterrorism. Finally, awareness and control measures, challenge and prospects of biosecurity in Nepal. The ubiquity of biological equipment, technical knowledge and ease of production has stimulated the threat of bioterrorism. Some of the challenging dimensions are agroterrorism and bioterrorism because the attack is very difficult to detect and has a devastating effect in a short period. The social and environmental consequences of these attacks can be catastrophic. The study revealed that it would be better to pay attention and go for precaution before the occurrence of bioterror. Improving forensic techniques of the national security wing for detecting and disabling biological weapons will assist in rapid detection. The restriction against easy access to potential bioagents, physical protection, border controls, risk policies and strict law enforcement are the major steps for ensuring biosecurity.

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“…SARS-CoV2, with a diameter ranged between 80-220 nm, is an enveloped virus containing single-stranded positive sense RNA with 26-32 kb genome [3]. Even though different animals were claimed as to be the origin of SARS-CoV2, there is no consensus, and a number of scientists and governmental authorities claim the virus is man-made [2], which idea is supported by such other papers [8,9]. SARS-CoV2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) using its receptor binding domain (RBD), followed by entry into the host cells via fusion [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mRNA SARS-CoV2 Specific and Childhood Vaccines against Covid-19 Pandemic

YAZGAN

2021

Türk Doğa Ve Fen Dergisi

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has been challenging the entire world since early 2020. Due to the fact that there is no universally available treatment method along with the disease's fast transmission from human to human, specific vaccine development efforts have got a great attention. Particularly mRNA-based severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) specific vaccines are administrated to individuals worldwide to combat against Covid-19 infection. Even though two dose mRNA vaccination provides immunity against ancestral and aggressive variants of SARS-CoV2 infections, rare detrimental short-time side effects and no-data availability on long-term possible side-effects along with unpredictable vaccination regime bring hesitancy against the vaccines. Besides, the vaccination regime is still under debate among the scientist as that whether pre-infected individuals require further vaccination and what should be the ideal vaccination dose. In addition to mRNA SARS-CoV2 specific vaccines, recent retrospective, theoretical, clinical, and biochemical studies revealed that trained innate immunity and heterologous T-cells and memory B-cells can be strong alternative to combat against SARS-CoV2 pandemic. In this context, conventional childhood vaccines (e.g., BCG and MMR) are proposed as valuable alternative vaccines against the pandemic with known clinical outcomes and effectivity. Covid-19'a karşı mRNA SARS-CoV2 spesifik ve Çocukluk Dönemi AşılarıAnahtar Kelimeler SARS-CoV2, mRNA aşıları, Klasik aşılar, Bağışıklık Öz: 2019 yılı koronavirus hastalığı (Covid-19) pandemisi 2020 yılından beri dünya çapında bir sorun haline gelmiştir. Evrensel olarak kabul edilmiş bir tedavisinin olmayışı ve insandan-insana geçişinin hızlı olması nedeniyle spesifik aşı geliştirme çalışmaları önem kazanmıştır. mRNA-temelli ağır akut solunum yolu yetersizliği sendromu korovirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) aşıları dünya çapında Covid-19'un kontrol altına alınmasına yönelik olarak en yaygın olarak kullanılan aşılardır. Herne kadar iki doz mRNA aşılarının hem atasal hemde mutasyona uğramış agresif SARS-CoV2 viral enfeksiyonlarına karşı yüksek bağışıklık sağlıyor olmalarına karşın, nadir olarak görülen kısa dönem yan etkileri ve uzun dönemli olası yan etkileri hakkında bilgilerin mevcut olmaması nedeniyle aşılara karşı bir tereddüt mevcuttur. Buna ek olarak, aşılama rejimin nasıl olması gerektiği bilimadaları arasında hala tartışma konusudur, örneğin enfeksiyon geçirmiş olan bireyler tekrar aşı olmalı mı ve kaç doz aşı olunması gerekir. mRNA temelli SARS-CoV2 aşılarına alternatif olarak, yeni yapılan retrospektif, teorik, klinik ve biyokimyasal çalışmalar, eğitilmiş doğal bağışıklığın ve heterelog T-hücrelerinin ve hafıza B hücrelerinin SARS-CoV2 pandemisine karşı savaşta önemli bir alternatif olabileceği önerilmiştir. Bu kapsamda, klasik çocukluk dönemi aşılarının (örneğin BCG ve MMR) pandemiye karşı bilinen klinik souçları ve etkinliği nedeniyle önemli alternatif aşılar oldukları görülmektedir.

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Is COVID-19 man-made?

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Investigating the Prevalence of Reactive Online Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study

Investigating the Prevalence of Reactive Online Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study

Evolving Dimension of Security: Bioterrorism

mRNA SARS-CoV2 Specific and Childhood Vaccines against Covid-19 Pandemic

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