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FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

fda.gov

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Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#61

Post by arbitrage »

bpodgursky wrote: post #7
riffic wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there's no need for that when samples of the virus itself are still retained by two laboratories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_virus_retention_debat...

There are a lot more people who will soon have access to genome fabrication technology (there are already companies that do this as a service) than can break into a BSL4+ laboratory and steal one of the few remaining smallpox samples.

The implication when noting that two laboratories retained samples of smallpox is that both the USA and the USSR (now russia) have almost certainly been researching bioweapon applications and defenses on this virus for forty+ years, now. Not that a third-party is going to steal the virus.

During the cold war, this was a polite way of saying "we know you have this capability, and guess what, so do we."

This announcement of a drug to treat smallpox is probably more about the reheating of the US/USSR cold-war again, than it is about a mission-impossible style caper with someone stealing a virus everyone already knows everything about.

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#62

Post by ChrisRR »

haimez wrote: post #48
5co wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a variant of pox for most animals, they aren’t dangerous to us. There’s even 2 variants of kangeroopox. Not even joking.

TIL factoid of the month, easily.

Your second little fact is that "factoid" means a lie that has been spread so widely that it's treated as a fact, and doesn't mean a little fact

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#63

Post by ChrisRR »

ohazi wrote: post #36
kps wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current smallpox vaccines stockpiled in the US use a live virus¹ and have a fairly high rate of serious side effects (1–2%) for a disease that doesn't currently exist. The vaccines are also still effective a few days after exposure to smallpox. ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinia

Also, the way the smallpox vaccine is administered is mildly gruesome: > A droplet of ACAM2000 is administered by the percutaneous route (scarification) using 15 jabs of a bifurcated needle . ACAM2000 should not be injected by the intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route. (emphasis mine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle

Is that like the BCG?

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#64

Post by hn8788 »

ohazi wrote: post #36
kps wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current smallpox vaccines stockpiled in the US use a live virus¹ and have a fairly high rate of serious side effects (1–2%) for a disease that doesn't currently exist. The vaccines are also still effective a few days after exposure to smallpox. ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinia

Also, the way the smallpox vaccine is administered is mildly gruesome: > A droplet of ACAM2000 is administered by the percutaneous route (scarification) using 15 jabs of a bifurcated needle . ACAM2000 should not be injected by the intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route. (emphasis mine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle

I got the vaccine in the military, the needle isn't bad, it looks like a tiny lobster fork. The worst part about it is how the injection site turns into a dime-sized itchy blister that you can't scratch for a few days.

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#65

Post by thowaway959125 »

chromatin wrote: post #2

This is actually quite disconcerting, in the backdrop of questions surrounding SARS-CoV-2.

There was also an interesting 2019 event possibly involving Ebola but is still being kept under wraps for national security reasons.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/chinese-researcher-e...

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#66

Post by LeifCarrotson »

parsecs wrote: post #49
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, if the slide was prepared for storage the sample would have been embedded in a preservative with the cover glass glued down around the perimeter. The sample would likely be mixed with a mixture of alcohol, glycerin, and acetic acid known as AGA to prevent decomposition, this would kill any bacteria or viruses in the sample. I have a microscope from my uncle, also a doctor, which came with a ton of slides he prepa…

How the hell can they get all these bits of humans for so cheap? As much as I love high value chinese stuff on amazon this one sorta creeps me out

I do notice that only the mucus membrane, blood, hair, sweat gland, and hair follicle slides specifically say they're from a human, the others could be from a pig or any other large mammal and it would be very hard to tell the difference. Were I buying an assortment of electronics and a few items were labeled with a brand name and others were unlabeled, I'd assume the unlabeled ones were generic.

Also, one cadaver can generate an awful lot of slides. Each slide requires on the order of a microliter (1/1000 of a milliliter) of material, and a good microtome can cut samples with a thickness of a few micrometers (1/1000 millimeters). Essentially all medical students go through an anatomy class involving the dissection of a cadaver, and Google says there are 3.8 million doctors in China, so even with a generous assumption of 20 students per cadaver and a static field (it's not) with 50-year careers, that's still several thousand cadavers per year.

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#68

Post by nradov »

arbitrage wrote: post #61
bpodgursky wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot more people who will soon have access to genome fabrication technology (there are already companies that do this as a service) than can break into a BSL4+ laboratory and steal one of the few remaining smallpox samples.

The implication when noting that two laboratories retained samples of smallpox is that both the USA and the USSR (now russia) have almost certainly been researching bioweapon applications and defenses on this virus for forty+ years, now. Not that a third-party is going to steal the virus. During the cold war, this was a polite way of saying "we know you have this capability, and guess what, so do we." This announceme…

Defenses perhaps, but I highly doubt that either country is still researching bioweapon applications. What's the point? They have nuclear and (latent) chemical weapons which are far more militarily effective and less likely to cause "friendly fire" incidents.

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#69

Post by [deleted] »

parsecs wrote: post #49
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, if the slide was prepared for storage the sample would have been embedded in a preservative with the cover glass glued down around the perimeter. The sample would likely be mixed with a mixture of alcohol, glycerin, and acetic acid known as AGA to prevent decomposition, this would kill any bacteria or viruses in the sample. I have a microscope from my uncle, also a doctor, which came with a ton of slides he prepa…

How the hell can they get all these bits of humans for so cheap? As much as I love high value chinese stuff on amazon this one sorta creeps me out

[deleted]

Re: FDA approves drug to treat smallpox

#70

Post by Ariarule »

ChrisRR wrote: post #62
haimez wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL factoid of the month, easily.

Your second little fact is that "factoid" means a lie that has been spread so widely that it's treated as a fact, and doesn't mean a little fact

Meta-humor, maybe? "A factoid is either an invented or assumed statement presented as a fact, or a true but brief or trivial item of news or information" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid
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