When a conference led to millions of covid 19 cases

 

One of the main reasons for the rapid spread of the new corona virus around the world is its silent transmission from person to person. In fact, it is possible that a person infected with the coronavirus could spread it to dozens of people.It may be hard to believe, but now a study has revealed that millions of people fell victim to Code 19 as a result of a simple conference.

On February 26 this year, officials from the biotech company BioGen attended a conference at a Boston hotel.At the time, the corona virus was not a major issue in the eyes of the American people, confined to China.But the virus was present at the conference and spread from person to person.

According to a new study, the conference became the event that led to the widespread spread of the corona virus, which could potentially affect millions of people in the United States, Singapore and Australia.The study's findings have not yet been published in a medical journal, but have been published online and show how far the corona virus can spread under appropriate conditions.

The research results were part of a project launched in early March by Harvard and MIT's Broad Institute, a research center that specializes in large-scale genome sequencing.As the number of COD 19 patients at Massachusetts General Hospital increased, researchers at the institute analyzed the genetic material of the virus in infected cells.

The researchers also looked at samples from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which was conducting tests at homeless shelters and nursing homes in Boston.Scientists analyzed the viral genomes of 772 patients with code 19 during January-May.The researchers then compared all of these genomes to find out where the virus came from in each individual.When a virus begins to replicate itself, it leaves behind inherited genetic material that allows researchers to track the incidence of virus transmission."It's like a fingerprint that we can use to track a virus," the researchers said.

The first confirmed case of the corona virus in Boston was reported on January 29 in a man returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, whose genetic material was similar to that discovered in Wuhan.

But researchers at the Broad Institute later discovered its genetic fingerprint in patients who later came to Boston, as the first case was isolated to prevent the virus from spreading.But in February, researchers in 180 other people in Boston discovered that they had spread the virus to others.The study found that the genetic fingerprints of most cases in Boston were similar to those in early Europe, as some people brought the virus directly from Europe.

Also read: At least 56 cases of the novel Corona virus have been reported in South Korea.

When experts looked in depth to see where the virus had spread across the city, they discovered that patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital did not have the same strain of corona virus, suggesting that the hospital was the source of the virus. no.

But it happened in a nursing home where 87% of the patients and 37% of the staff were infected with code 19 and the researchers identified three types of the virus, but one of them caused 90% of cases.

Such large-scale cases are characteristic of the corona virus, in which an infected person can infect dozens of people in a very short time at a place suitable for the spread of the virus.

However, such cases are not very common, but when they do occur, medical experts are amazed at the potential of the virus.The virus that spread in the nursing home could not go beyond the walls, but when the virus appeared at the Biogen conference, the direction of the research changed completely.

The researchers were able to develop 28 viral genome sequences in participants in the conference, and the same type of C2416T was discovered in each.The conference was also attended by people from Europe and it is possible that someone from there brought this type of virus with them.But it is also possible that the virus arrived in Boston a week or so before the conference and that someone took it with them to the conference.

Participants in the conference spent hours close to each other, where the air drainage system was faulty and face masks were not used, causing the virus to spread rapidly.The virus was transmitted to another type of G-26233T among the participants in the conference, and those who developed the virus became infected with the double-stranded virus when it was transmitted to other people.

Its prevalence continued to spread, until C2416T was discovered in 51% of people at a center for the homeless, while both types were found in 54%."We had no idea it could be linked to this conference, it came as a surprise to us," the researchers said.Researchers estimate that more than 20,000 people in Boston were infected with the virus from the conference.

But that did not stop there. Researchers discovered it in samples from other US states, such as Virginia, North Carolina and Michigan, as well as Europe, Asia and Australia.

The researchers said that at the moment it is impossible for us to determine how many people have been infected with the virus in the months leading up to the Boston conference.