Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 309 posts

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#41

Post by biswaroop »

hutzlibu wrote: post #31
sobriquet9 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You augment your memory with Google searches and your running speed with cars, why not augment your natural immune system with vaccines.

Well, I am about to get vaccinated with astrazeneca in half an hour ... but my counter argument would be: relying on vaccination and sterilisation too much, causes the immune system to be weak, too. Immune system needs practice, too.

> relying on vaccination and sterilisation too much, causes the immune system to be weak

I think you fundamentally misunderstand the mechanism of vaccination.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#42

Post by dcolkitt »

guscost wrote: post #30

All human coronavirus diseases, including COVID-19, are colds. Always have been. This one from 1890 might have been caused by OC43: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1889–1890_pandemic

This is a pretty interesting hypothesis. Maybe there’s nothing really special about SARS type coronaviruses besides their novelty.

Is it possible that all coronaviruses, including the ones that cause a common cold, have a similar morbidity profile to COVID? Very minor infection in the young or those with previous exposure, extremely deadly in the old and naive. Except we all catch a bunch of colds in childhood, so nobody has to worry about a cold wiping out nursing homes.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#43

Post by NicoJuicy »

hprotagonist wrote: post #13
mrkramer wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it is natural selection if I'm weak I will die if I'm not I will pass my genes to my kids. That's how we evolved to the level of biological machine that human body is.

and now we’re evolved enough to have brains capable of giving us a competitive advantage against diseases! unless you think that brains somehow aren’t part of our biological machine.

How about IVF and that it becomes almost a necessity for all their children.

Or the increased necessity of glasses at a young age.

It's not the beneficiaries particular brain that gave the competitive edge ;)

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#44

Post by WhompingWindows »

insickness wrote: post #2

"From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth. By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet's infinite organisms. And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither…

"the tiniest creatures God in his wisdom put upon this earth"

The writing is nice but flawed. Since War of the Worlds, we have advanced tremendously and no longer need intelligent design or creation myths to explain microorganisms.

Reproducible, testable science demonstrates that in the primordial oceans, self-replicating molecules which were slightly better at self-replicating produced globules of matter capable of inheritance. Small mutations over millions of years led to the tiniest organisms, not "creatures", and most microorganisms don't even interact with higher life forms. It's only after epochs of time that complex mammals arose, breathing air, and these mammalian hosts then did provide the harbor for pathogens we know today.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#45

Post by timr »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #36
timr wrote: post #32

There has been a lot of (IMHO unsupported) speculation that the almost complete eradication of influenza in 2020 was due to competitive inhibition from SARS-CoV2. However, data I've seen suggests that rhinovirus is still circulating at its usual rate [1]. If it's true that rhinovirus is such a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV2, at the very least, the interplay between SARS-CoV2 and other respiratory viruses is non-trivia…

You haven't mentioned social behavioral change in your speculation about the decimated 2020-2021 flu season. I'd wager that has a very large part in why the flu hasn't spread: everyone is socially distanced, remote, masked, extra hygienic, and extra aware of illness.

I didn't mention it because it's not addressed by this article, which is specifically about competitive inhibition.

That said, if you're going to claim that all of these things we have done have eliminated the flu, you should take at least a few moments to reflect on the fact that they have done ~nothing to rhinovirus.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#46

Post by anonymouswacker »

mrkramer wrote: post #5

Another reason I personally would not like to get vaccinated. Nature and evolution solve all problems sooner or later.

I share your skepticism. Vaccines are a relatively new technology, with various buggy vaccines coming out that were actually more harmful than helpful. Time will tell if the mRNA "Vaccine" will be a net positive. I am totally okay with other people injecting whatever they want in their bodies, as long as they don't try to make me do it, too. I would rather die of natural causes than a rushed-to-market product.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#47

Post by andruby »

guscost wrote: post #30

All human coronavirus diseases, including COVID-19, are colds. Always have been. This one from 1890 might have been caused by OC43: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1889–1890_pandemic

> are colds.

What constitutes a "cold"? Is there some kind of definition for it?

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#48

Post by belinder »

hutzlibu wrote: post #31
sobriquet9 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You augment your memory with Google searches and your running speed with cars, why not augment your natural immune system with vaccines.

Well, I am about to get vaccinated with astrazeneca in half an hour ... but my counter argument would be: relying on vaccination and sterilisation too much, causes the immune system to be weak, too. Immune system needs practice, too.

Vaccine is the practice

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#49

Post by guscost »

_zn02 wrote: post #34
guscost wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, I’m the opposite. I would have no significant reservations if it wasn’t for the creepy fascist vibe oozing from beneath the facade of “science”. As it stands, I’ll go to war today and die to guarantee my and your and everyone’s right to refuse, should TPTB actually try anything that stupid. Shouldn’t be a problem though, the people in favor seem to be mostly bullies making noise. They tend to shut up when you…

"I believe the vaccine works and I'll die for your right not to take it" is one hell of a take, and I'm just happy there really aren't that many of you out there. You may want to remove the link in your profile where you express skepticism that we'll hit millions of deaths worldwide, as it's going to make people question your already questionable viewpoints even more.

A wild bully appears!

> skepticism that we’ll hit millions of deaths worldwide

Here’s the exact quote from the blog, in case any bystanders suspect that this person might not be arguing in good faith:

“Personally I don’t think that millions of healthy people will ever drop dead from one of these diseases in the space of a year, like they once did from a flu in 1918.”

> I’m just happy there really aren’t that many of you out there.

Should it come to the point where “dying for rights” is a real thing again (in America), I guess you’ll find out.

Re: The virus that causes the common cold can effectively boot the Covid virus out

#50

Post by timr »

learnstats2 wrote: post #40
timr wrote: post #32

There has been a lot of (IMHO unsupported) speculation that the almost complete eradication of influenza in 2020 was due to competitive inhibition from SARS-CoV2. However, data I've seen suggests that rhinovirus is still circulating at its usual rate [1]. If it's true that rhinovirus is such a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV2, at the very least, the interplay between SARS-CoV2 and other respiratory viruses is non-trivia…

> doesn't explain the complete suppression of influenza Influenza isn’t infective enough to spread during the summer months anyway (i.e. it is completely suppressed), unlike rhinoviruses, so it’s easily most plausible that a few additional hygiene measures have suppressed influenza further.

The data I linked to covers the winter -- the same "hygiene measures" were in place in the winter, and clearly affecting both viruses differently.

If you're saying that rhinoviruses are more contagious than the flu because they're less seasonal...there's really no evidence to support that. They're more-or-less the same [1]. It's possible that influenza is more sensitive to heat, light, etc.

My point is, the story isn't likely to be simple or reductionist.

[1] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.04.20020404v...

Post reply on HN