Peter Lederman in Second Bout With COVID-19

What @lewm said. @dover1, there was no validation that there was a  "gain of function" research that led to SARS CoV-2019. Had the virus been completely engineered, there would be easily discernable "splice" sites that could be detected on sequencing, and we don't see that. Yes, this SARS virus can recombine, but not nearly as much as flu does (hence why we require shots every year). Also, flu mutates much more rapidly, as lewm observed because of SARs' proof reading ability. In any case, most mutations would be neutral or inhibitory to virus' s infectiousness and replication, so there's that. Yes, China hasn't been completely transparent, and we may never know exactly what happened, but best evidence is that this wasn't engineered.

None of this helps Peter though, and I really hope he is getting the best care from experts - I also like teaching hospitals. Please let us know if there is anything we can do, in addition to buying more Soundsmith :-)  - do we know the hospital? Can we send him cards, flowers, etc.? 

As a former virologist - it would be extremely unusual for Peter to have a bad secondary infection so close to the first...We also don't know his vaccine status. A doctor at UCLA who follows long haul COVID patients has observed - as have others - that treatment with the vaccine after infection helps a significant percentage of those suffering symptoms (of course if they have not been vaccinated) - up to 40%.  That's been noted by others as well, and has benefited a higher percentage of patients in a few unpublished studies so far than any of the MAbs. 

I wish Peter well, and hope he is at a good research hospital where they can get him the best care. If not, perhaps he should consider transferring? And gets his vaccine(s). 

@retipper I am so glad you are recovering. Like @lewm I agree that even a single vaccination appears to protect those who have had SARS-CoV infections, and in cases of long haul COVID, sometimes largely ease lingering symptoms. Please continue to heal, and I also appreciate your poetry. Please let us know if there is anything we can do, in addition to buying and promulgating Soundsmith.

@lewm I also used to be a molecular virologist (flu virus lab).  Thank you for replying, esp. to MC, and others who might believe his claptrap.  Remarkably, both mRNA vaccines have been shown to be at least partially effective against the delta variant, even though that variant wasn't around when the vaccines were designed.  Newer pre-prints claim to show that vaccine induced immunity may be effective for several years.  A remarkable job by many, and regardless of the viral origins, there's the undisputed fact that China should have realized what was going on with the outbreak (or did and covered up), and notified the world much earlier.  Then perhaps a travel ban down may have proven effective, as was done for MERS and SARS initially.  The problem with SARS-CoV is that the symptoms occur so much longer after infection, and mimic other conditions for a while...

@millercarbon Please stop spouting this nonsense. You do everyone a grave disservice. You appear to be trolling, and didn't bother to spell whether correctly, so it appears you put little thought into your posts.