There is a strong chance the new coronavirus could go from the Northern hemisphere countries and return in seasonal cycles, a senior US scientist said Wednesday, underscoring the urgent need to find a vaccine and effective treatments.
Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseasesat the National Institutes of Health, told a briefing the virus was beginningto take root in the southern hemisphere, where winter is on its way.
"What we're starting to see now… in southern Africaand in the southern hemisphere countries, is that we're having cases that areappearing as they go into their winter season," he said.
There are currently two vaccines that have entered humantrials — one in the US and one in China — and they could be a year to ayear-and-a-half away from deployment.
Treatments are also being investigated – some new drugs and others that have been repurposed, including the antimalarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.
"I know we'll be successful in putting this down now,but we really need to be prepared for another cycle," Fauci concluded.
Fauci's comments suggesting the virus does better in colderweather than it does in hot and humid conditions follows a recent Chineseresearch paper — still preliminary and awaiting peer-review — that reachedthe same conclusion.
The reasons are thought to include that respiratory dropletsremain airborne for longer in colder weather, and that cold weather weakensimmunity.
Another potential reason is that viruses degrade morequickly on hotter surfaces, possibly because a protective layer of fat thatenvelops them dries out quicker.
But reduced infection rate does not mean the virus getseliminated — Australia has had almost 2,500 confirmed cases and 8 deaths, forexample.
