Possible genetic links to the severity of a CoVid attack.

Dorsetcupcake- Russian roulette indeed!

Indeed Mell967. I hope your husband continues to recover well. Maybe his contracting the virus was due to constant exposure at work. It does seem amazing you and your son didnt get it. Genetics. Asymptomatic? It does add to the Russian roulette feel about this virus!

In case anybody is wondering, this seemed to sum it up well for me

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh made the discovery by studying the DNA of 2,700 Covid-19 patients in 208 intensive care units in the UK
They compared the genetic data with samples from healthy volunteers to find out what was different in the DNA of those who became seriously ill
The team found key differences in five genes – IFNAR2, TYK2, OAS1, DPP9 and CCR2 – which are individually carried by between six and 68 per cent of the population .
The genes are involved in two processes in the body – antiviral immunity and lung inflammation – and crucially can be dialled up or down by drugs already available .

Dr Kenneth Baillie, the project’s chief investigator at the university’s Roslin Institute, said: “We’ve known for many years that variation in susceptibility to infection is strongly genetic.

“ What we’ve been trying to do is use genetics to understand the complexity of the human immune system to find levers we can pull that will change the outcome for the patient

“ Essentially we’re using genetics to predict the effect of drugs that treat them in the system. ”

Obviously there is a tremendous amount regarding genetics we just done know. However how remarkable is it that this virus can be so targeted?

Thankyou Grannycornforth. Maybe I'm just impatient! I cant help but think back to my parents generation. People frequently lost family members due to diseases we can now vaccinate against or cure. Some have said we are just now accustomed to medicine finding the answers.
Probably the biggest issue was AIDS for which there was a lot of panic. However in this century we have had birdflue,swine flue,and even the threat of Ebola. Although alarming obviously not a patch on Covid. Since the first lock down I've never been quite sure whether the spread of Covid has been worsened by Government actions ,in the USA and other countries, not just UK. Maybe things could have been handled more effectively. I do have a little niggle though that for whatever reason unless people were to be totally isolated this virus cant be controlled for whatever reason. Even countries who have tackled it more stringently seem to have problems when relax.

Hello,

This is very interesting.

My husband - a fit 55 year old, Teacher, with no underlying health issues - is recovering from Covid-19.
We've had a scary few weeks - but he is starting to recover now.
My son and I have been fine. Absolutely no symptoms at all.
So it must be a gene thing??

I still have no taste or smell from my bout of 'something' I had before last Xmas ?
Italy aren't the only country looking back on 'old' swabs.

I have my DNA results but need to have an expert explain what they mean though I expect 23 & me will shortly be contacting me to explain how this research relates to me.

I took the test for the medical reports (being told you don’t carry the breast cancer or Alzheimer’s genes was liberating) but you need to be the type of person who can deal with bad news.

Medicine is progressing so rapidly at the moment. I am sure many more researchers are on the verge of publishing in the near future.

Dorsetcupcake I couldn't agree more, especially with your first sentence. There is a lot more to this virus than we can imagine.

I cant help but feel we are at the very beginning of all this and it may be many years before the full picture emerges. I remember reading months ago that those with dementia were genetically more prone to Covid and it wasnt due to being vulnerable because of age. I dont know if I'm the only one ,but when I see the relentless numbers of deaths daily I increasingly want to know who,where and why.! Are people becoming infected because of reasons beyond their control such as being in receipt of care? What are the differences in lifestyles in vulnerable groups? I remember when schools reopened and many gransnetters resumed childcare. For me that sounded very risky. Has it been?
Maybe the issue has been that I think Covid being a flu type illness has lingered. Apparently flu incidents are down,maybe due to people who are vulnerable following Covid guidelines.
This virus seems more tenacious,more complex than most. I'm not a virologist but the long term effects seem potentially much more damaging.
The vaccines are a wonderful first step but I think we have a long way to go.
I also find it interesting the treatment Trump and Guiliani received. Both men appear to have vulnerability that should have made them very I'll,both seemed to disregard all safety precautions. I find this quite odd with Trump who has been known to be quite germ phobic. Maybe whatever treatment they received Is to expensive or in short supply to be generally available. It does seem perplexing.

Quizqueen. People ARE still dying from normal flu. However people with poor health may be dying from COVID where they would otherwise have died from flu. I do hope you are not trying to downplay the severity of this pandemic.

This new research into genetic susceptibility to Covid is fascinating as well as directly practical with implications for treatment. Wonderful work.
Scientists have become so important this year and their work so much appreciated by the wider society that I hope more young people are attracted to a career in the various branches of science.

FannyCornforth

Yes phoenix. I've also noticed that when giving the daily figures that they say 'died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid'.

Months ago the Scottish Govt announced that they were changing the way Covid deaths numbers were announced during the pandemic.

Previously only deaths directly from Covid were announced, now if Covid is recorded anywhere on the death certificate, it is included in the statistics. This gives a more accurate figure of Covid deaths.
I haven't put this very well, but I'm sure someone will be along to give a better explanation than me.

I remember when my mum died there were three lines for recording causes of death. Although she had cancer, the primary cause was recorded as pneumonia and the secondaries, heart failure, then cancer.

Yes phoenix. I've also noticed that when giving the daily figures that they say 'died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid'.

I have noticed that some items on the Radio, when they are giving the current statistics, they are saying that x number of people died with Covid 19, rather than from it, indicating that there is a difference.

Hello CanadianGran I very much agree that it has been around for much longer.

There is a very eerie thread on Mumsnet that I wish I could link to.
It is called something like 'Has anyone else got this awful flu?'
It's a few hundred posts long; people suffering from awful coughs, burning lungs etc, basically all the classic symptoms. It was started in November 2019.

It was somewhat surprising to me that DH caught it, as he has never had 'normal' flu - even when I've had it. He didn't catch swine flu either when I had it.
I think that I may have had Covid. The only reason being is the I occasionally cough up a small amount of sticky phlegm.

I've mentioned this before, but I do hope that people are aware that the symptoms are changing constantly.
It seems that currently the main early symptom is a terrible headache.

It is amazing to me the work that medical scientists can do. Links between genetics, diet, lack of certain vitamins etc. are interesting. I'm glad we live in a society that values scientific research. Perhaps a good portion of it is driven by capitalism, but we all benefit from the knowledge.

I also think this virus has been around longer than last December. I know of a few people that travelled in Europe late last summer (2019) that were very sick, and some of the symptoms sound like COVID. A co-worker in her 20's ended up in hospital in Greece with a flu-like virus. She said she feared for her life because she just couldn't breathe properly. Her fiance was not at all sick. What makes one person ill and another not? I'm glad there are scientists studying it.

I've also seen various articles that different Blood Groups have greater or lesser symptoms.

quizqueen

If people who are shielding get covid then there's no point in anyone shielding is there. It's also strange no one seems to be dying of your normal seasonal flu any more; everyone seems to be cured of that!!!

My great aunt died in November this year and the death certificate recorded flu with pneumonia as the cause. People are dying of flu but the deaths are not being reported on, just as death from dementia or cancer are not in the news. These deaths add to the overall death rate though but I’m not sure what that is at the moment.

It’s such a shame when people denigrate scientists who are trying to learn and inform us about Covid. I’d have thought that the fact this project is being led by a Scottish group was something to be happy about.

The more research that's done, the better prepared we'll be, so this is good progress. I was quite optimistic that paddyann would be delighted this was being led by a group outside of England but it was not to be. But I'm delighted and I'm Welsh!

FannyC I hope your Dh manages to make a good recovery from Covid. What a terrible time for you.

It’s such a shame when people denigrate scientists who are trying to learn and inform us about Covid. I’d have thought that the fact this project is being led by a Scottish group was something to be happy about.

I think many of us who were ill last winter assumed it was a type of flu we were suffering. DH was eventually prescribed steroids, my symptoms were laboured breathing, something I have never suffered with a flu. Once the symptoms of Covid were clearer, many of us began to wonder if we had been ill with this particular virus and not flu.

Scientists have discovered so many cures throughout history Paddyann. As Covid-19 is an unknown strain there is so much for scientists to discover as to the make up of this new virus including its effect on varying genetics, being one example.

I am sure some people are dying of flu and indeed other illnesses, but as we now know, if they had tested positive for covid in the previous 28 days then that is what is put on the death certificate.

Who knows how many people have died with covid and not from it ?

paddyanne

I think people are clutching at any information they can find

.There have been 12 deaths of people my family knew since April .All were very different from a fit 34 year old who thought he had a cold and died within hours of his diagnosis to a friends dad who was in a Geriatric ward and hadn't had visitors and my frIends dil whose dad died just as he was about to be released after 3 weeks in a covid ward.
They had nothing in common not age or health or lifestyle or anything other than they lived in the West of Scotland .
I think its a lottery and we have no idea who might get it or how it will affect them.I think all we can do is follow the guidlines and keep safe.Fanny I hope your husband makes a good speedy recovery and that you can get through the stress of it and get back to a good place very soon

You may well think it is a lottery but the latest research is designed to investigate more stringently what may seem “a lottery” to the layman.
I don’t think the scientists are clutching at straws and the research they are doing will inform both treatment and immunisation in future. The finer differences in our DNA is not something we are privy to outside the laboratory so let’s not be dismissive just because we do not have the knowledge, training or medical experience to come up with an answer.
If we did - we wouldn’t need the scientists!

petra I hadn't, but I am not surprised.
I was ill over last Christmas and for weeks afterwards.

I did see the report, which was not widely publicised, about the British man who was ill and died at the end of January from pneumonia but his lung tissue has since been tested and found to contain COVID.