I think there is a great reluctance to release an "extremely
contagious" virus into the world for any reason. This is due to a
combination of concern for informed consent, but more importantly, for
fear of mutations causing a reversion to a dangerous form. RNA viruses
are particularly prone to mistakes when replicating their genome.
The live form of the polio virus is the closest I know to the
vaccination campaign you describe. The vaccine is a version of polio
virus with enough mutations to drop its replication rate to the point
where it doesn't spread widely, so, in that point, it isn't a good model
for your "extremely contagious" version. This virus will replicate
slowly in the gut for several months before immunity develops and the
infection is eliminated. This results in a very high level of
protection for that person.
A problem is that the virus is shed and can infect other people in
the area who are not immune. You could say "Great, more people
vaccinated!". Over the length of time of several successive infections
reversion can occur and the disease can become severe enough to cause
paralysis.
This has a low probability but is avoided by ensuring that the live
vaccine is only used when the surrounding population is well vaccinated,
preventing repeated generations of infection. When there is a breakout
of vaccine-derived polio the response is to sweep in and vaccinate as
many people as possible. Natural transmission cannot replace a
vaccination program since the program is still required to clean up the
mess when the live virus goes rogue.
According to Wikipedia, in 2017 there were more cases of
vaccine-related polio in the world than wild polio. The live vaccine
has not been used in the US for many years because the only cases of
polio in the country were due to the vaccine.
100: Your extremely contagious virus could never be recalled, and once
it mutates, could only be overcome by an even more contagious vaccine
virus. Goto 100
Dale Tronrud
On 2/17/2021 9:33 AM, Jacob Keller wrote:
It would seem to me that it should be possible to generate versions of
the Covid virus that would:
A. be extremely contagious and yet
B. be clinically benign, and
C. confer immunity to the original covid virus.
If, then, this virus could be released, with appropriate "kill switch"
safeguards built in, would this not solve the world's pandemic problems?
Is there any reason, practically, why this approach would not be feasible?
Maybe we don't really know enough to manipulate A, B, C yet?
Or maybe it's too scary for primetime...nightmare bio-warfare apocalypse?
Has this sort of thing been done, or does it have a name?
Jacob
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jacob Pearson Keller
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics
Uniformed Services University
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda MD 20814
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>;
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Cell: (301)592-7004
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