January 3, 2013

Something wicked this way comes

There have been a number of outbreaks of Norovirus recently, in England, on a couple cruise ships and some in the Eastern USA. I do not look forward to it coming up to this neck of the woods but with everyone flying these days, it will happen. Carl Zimmer writes about them at National Geographic:
The Norovirus: A Study in Puked Perfection
Today, The Guardian relayed one of those stunning medical stories that causes me to clean off my glasses and take another look to make sure I�m reading it clearly. They report that an outbreak of norovirus in Britain this winter has struck more than 1.1 million people with vomiting and diarrhea.

That�s right: 1.1 million. In Britain alone.

What is this fearsome bug, you may be asking, and why isn�t it the subject of a Hollywood horror movie?

Noroviruses are one of virology�s great open secrets. In a recent issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Aron Hall of the Centers for Disease Control declared, �Noroviruses are perhaps the perfect human pathogen.�

Here�s what inspires awe in scientists like Hall.

Each norovirus carries just nine protein-coding genes (you have about 20,000). Even with that skimpy genetic toolkit, noroviruses can break the locks on our cells, slip in, and hack our own DNA to make new noroviruses. The details of this invasion are sketchy, alas, because scientists haven�t figured out a good way to rear noroviruses in human cells in their labs. It�s not even clear exactly which type of cell they invade once they reach the gut. Regardless of the type, they clearly know how to exploit their hosts. Noroviruses come roaring out of the infected cells in vast numbers. And then they come roaring out of the body. Within a day of infection, noroviruses have rewired our digestive system so that stuff comes flying out from both ends.
And they change every couple of months so if you get it once, you will be susceptible a few months later. Fun stuff... Posted by DaveH at January 3, 2013 8:59 PM
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