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The Iowa Utilities Board approved the nation's largest wind energy project, which will power 800,000 homes once completed.
The 2,000-megawatt Wind XI project should be completed by the end of 2019.
"Wind energy helps us keep prices stable and more affordable for customers, provides jobs and economic benefits for communities and the state, and contributes to a cleaner environment for everyone," said Bill Fehrman, the CEO of the utility behind the project.
Bruce Nilles, senior director for Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, agrees. Nilles said in a statement:
"This is an amazing example of how the unstoppable transition towards a 100% clean energy economy is moving faster than many expected. This is a landmark moment not only for the burgeoning wind energy industry in Iowa, a state which already runs on more than one-third wind energy and employs thousands of hard-working Iowans, but for the entire nation, as the largest wind project ever approved in the country. Iowa and MidAmerican's rapid transition from dirty coal to affordable and renewable wind energy offers a clear path for utilities nationwide to make major strides towards 100% clean energy in a way that provides family-supporting jobs and without rate increases.
This also represents a huge leap forward for one of Warren Buffett's three utilities and is a model for how his other two can quickly follow suit, particularly Pacificorp, which operates the largest coal fleet in the West. We still have tremendous work to ensure that this transition keeps moving full speed ahead, but one thing is certain: with announcements like the one today, we aren't ever going back to dirty fossil fuels."
For a deeper dive:
News: AP, Quad Cities Online
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
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A coral reef in Egypt's Red Sea. Tropical ocean ecosystems could see sudden biodiversity losses this decade if emissions are not reduced. Georgette Douwma / Stone / Getty Images
The biodiversity loss caused by the climate crisis will be sudden and swift, and could begin before 2030.
<p>That's the warning from a new study <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2189-9" target="_blank">published in Nature Wednesday</a>, which set out to determine how a variety of species and ecosystems would respond to rising temperatures over the course of the 21st century.</p><p>"We found that climate change risks to biodiversity don't increase gradually. Instead, as the climate warms, within a certain area most species will be able to cope for a while, before crossing a temperature threshold, when a large proportion of the species will suddenly face conditions they've never experienced before," lead author Dr. Alex Pigot of University College London's Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research said in a <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/apr/climate-change-could-cause-sudden-biodiversity-losses-worldwide" target="_blank">press release</a>. "It's not a slippery slope, but a series of cliff edges, hitting different areas at different times."</p>
<p>The researchers divided the globe into 100 by 100 kilometer (approximately 62 mile) grids and looked at the ranges of 30,652 species along with climate models from 1850 to 2005. They then used models to determine when the species in each grid would experience temperatures beyond their historic ranges for five years or more. The results showed that many species in an ecosystem would cross that temperature threshold at the same time, and 73 percent of species around the world facing temperature shocks would do so in the same decade.</p>
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<p>Jennifer Sunday, a McGill University biologist who was not involved with the study, told <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07042020/global-warming-ecosystem-biodiversity-rising-heat-species?fbclid=IwAR1galRnXD4ZOTC0tZ_ob18WhgHpVwzDPQUPHEXA_nqw0QwQ1WoeQWFM_8s" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a> that its novel approach allowed for new insight into the timeline for climate-driven biodiversity loss.</p><p>"We did not know about the time-course of events. We have lots of models that compare species ranges today to those at a future date, but we did not know when most of the changes were going to happen," she said. "The research also makes it clear that global warming's impacts on ecosystems could arrive very suddenly."</p><p>Just how sudden and how devastating those impacts will be depends entirely on how swiftly greenhouse gas emissions are lowered to reduce global warming.</p><p>The study found that, in a high-emissions scenario that allows more than four degrees Celsius of warming by 2100, at least 15 percent of ecosystems would suffer an event in which more than 20 percent of their key species hit their temperature limits in the same decade. This could happen before 2030 for tropical oceans and by 2050 for the far North and tropical forests.</p><p>If emissions are kept below two degrees Celsius, however, as per the goals of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a>, fewer than two percent of ecosystems will face such an event.</p>
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<p>Dr. Pigot said the experience of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> provided a model for how swift action now could avert catastrophe later.</p><p>"Our findings highlight the urgent need for climate change mitigation, by immediately and drastically reducing emissions, which could help save thousands of species from extinction. Keeping global warming below 2°C effectively 'flattens the curve' of how this risk to biodiversity will accumulate over the century, providing more time for species and ecosystems to adapt to the changing climate – whether that's by finding new habitats, changing their behaviour, or with the help of human-led <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> efforts," he said in the press release.</p>
<p>Dr. Pigot said the experience of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> provided a model for how swift action now could avert catastrophe later.</p><p>"Our findings highlight the urgent need for climate change mitigation, by immediately and drastically reducing emissions, which could help save thousands of species from extinction. Keeping global warming below 2°C effectively 'flattens the curve' of how this risk to biodiversity will accumulate over the century, providing more time for species and ecosystems to adapt to the changing climate – whether that's by finding new habitats, changing their behaviour, or with the help of human-led <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> efforts," he said in the press release.</p>
<p>Conservation groups also endorsed Pigot's message.</p><p>"There is already more than enough evidence that climate change is impacting the natural world and that we risk losing up to a million species. We know what the solutions are to halt climate change and biodiversity loss," Mark Wright, director of science at <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/" target="_blank">WWF-UK</a>, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/wildlife-destruction-not-a-slippery-slope-but-a-series-of-cliff-edges" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "The world is currently rightly focused on tackling the global health emergency. However, this new research reinforces that, after we are through this extremely difficult time, we will need renewed ambitious action to address the climate and nature crisis."</p>
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An approximately one-year-old puma in the streets of Santiago, Chile on March 24, 2020, in search for food as fewer people are outside due to the pandemic. ANDRES PINA / ATON CHILE / AFP via Getty Images
A third cougar has been sighted wandering through a residential neighborhood in the Chilean capital of Santiago as millions of the city's residents are under lockdown measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
<p>A video shared by the National Zoo of Chile shows the big cat being released at "dusk under strict security measures" darting from an enclosure back into its mountain landscape. The zoo adds that the big cat was captured in a private home on Monday and was in deemed in good enough health to release it the same day, according to a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zoologiconacionaldechile/posts/3238908382799914" target="_blank">post</a>.</p><p>Two other cougars have also been captured in the city as a majority of its six million residents are practicing quarantine and self-isolation measures amid the coronavirus outbreak. As people have moved inside for the last two weeks, wild animals often pushed to urban outskirts have been making their way into city centers.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="77827e0b75e8757004242624fd75cc54"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/zoologiconacionaldechile/videos/213107676637654/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>"They sense less noise and are also looking for new places to find food and some get lost and appear in the cities," Horacio Bórquez, Chile's national director of livestock and agriculture service, said of the animals in a report by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52197631" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The foothills surrounding Santiago have also been experiencing a severe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a>, which <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-chile-puma/chilean-capital-gets-another-visit-from-cougar-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-idUSKBN21K37Q" target="_blank">Reuters</a> adds may be further pushing the thirsty felines toward urban centers in search of water. Central Chile has received 30 percent lass rainfall that normal over the last decade in what scientists have nicknamed a "<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.6219" target="_blank">megadrought</a>." Last year was particularly dry with rainfall deficits of 80 to 90 percent, according to <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145874/long-term-drought-parches-chile" target="_blank">NASA</a>.</p><p>"An 80 percent deficit means that the semi-arid region north of Santiago has seen almost no water, as seen in the marked browning of the vegetation," said <a href="http://www.dgf.uchile.cl/rene/" target="_blank">René D. Garreaud</a>, a scientist at the University of Chile. "South of Santiago has received some rain — 100 to 300 millimeters (4 to 12 inches). That is still not much, but it has been enough to keep the vegetation green."</p>
<p>It is unclear whether wildlife is "rebounding" in the absence of humans or if they are simply taking advantage of a unique situation. In recent weeks, social media has shared videos of wildlife making its way to human-populated areas as if in response to global lockdowns – claims that <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-fake-animal-viral-social-media-posts/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a> has challenged. Many of the reports – which include accounts of <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dolphins-swans-italy-lockdown/" target="_blank">swans</a>, <a href="https://mashable.com/article/coronavirus-fake-dolphins-venice-animals-viral-posts/" target="_blank">dolphins</a>, and even <a href="https://www.indy100.com/article/drunk-elephants-china-corn-yunan-province-9414431" target="_blank">drunk elephants</a> – are either misrepresented or a regular occurrence.</p><p>"The phenomenon highlights how quickly eye-popping, too-good-to-be-true rumors can spread in times of crisis. People are compelled to share posts that make them emotional," writes the publication. "When we're feeling stressed, joyous animal footage can be an irresistible salve. The spread of social phenomena is so powerful, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep19767" target="_blank">2016 research shows</a>, that it can follow same models that trace the contagion of epidemics."</p><p>As human populations grow and encroach on natural habitat, interactions between people and wildlife continue to increase. Protective regulations have further helped once-endangered animal populations to bounce back, further <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/mountain-lion-encounters-rise-experts/story?id=62144482" target="_blank">spurring</a> potential urban-wildlife conflict. A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.5559" target="_blank">2019 study</a> suggests that understanding animals living at the wildland-urban interface is necessary to ensure the safety of both animals and humans, which is "especially true for large carnivores" as these species are not always tolerated by the public.</p>
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Bernie Sanders announces he is suspending his campaign via a livestream Wednesday. berniesanders.com via Getty Images
Bernie Sanders, the Independent Vermont Senator who campaigned for aggressive action on the climate crisis and environmental justice, has dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary race.
<p>His announcement, made Wednesday morning during a conference call with his entire staff, means the more moderate former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a> will face off against President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> in November, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/08/bernie-sanders-suspends-his-presidential-campaign-175137" target="_blank">POLITICO reported</a>. In a speech livestreamed to supporters, Sanders said his campaign had won the "ideological battle" on issues ranging from universal health care to climate action, but that he could see no clear way to secure the nomination.</p><p>"Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice," he told his supporters, according to a transcript provided by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/bernie-sanders-concession-speech.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
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<p>When Sanders first entered the race in February of 2019, he <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bernie-sanders-2020-2629410846.html" target="_self">promised</a> to release his own version of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bernie-sanders-2020-2629410846.html" target="_self">Green New Deal</a>, an ambitious plan to transition the U.S. from fossil fuels to renewable energy while providing jobs and addressing inequality.</p><p>When his <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sanders-green-new-deal-2639955047.html" target="_self">plan dropped in August</a>, many said it was the most progressive of the proposals of the Democratic candidates contending for the nomination. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/22/20828794/bernie-sanders-green-new-deal-2020-elections-climate-change" target="_blank">Verge summed it up</a> at the time:</p><blockquote>At $16.3 trillion spent over 15 years, Sanders' climate deal is by far the priciest of all the Democratic candidates left in the primary race. It's also arguably the most progressive — pushing for the US to have a carbon-free economy by 2050. The senator from Vermont also set a 2030 benchmark goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy in the country's two most carbon-intensive industries, transportation and the power sector, by investing in solar, wind, and geothermal power. Sanders' plan would also declare climate change a national emergency, bring the US back on board with the Paris climate agreement, and commit $200 billion in funding to help developing nations cut their emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.</blockquote>
<p>His plan earned a 94 out of 100 on <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a>'s <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/climate2020/" target="_blank">climate scorecard</a> and an <a href="https://medium.com/sunrisemvmt/sunrise-movement-endorses-bernie-sanders-for-president-b6bdb68ba408" target="_blank">endorsement</a> from pro-Green New Deal group the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a>.</p><p>But after early primary victories in New Hampshire and Nevada, Sanders began to falter beside the more moderate Biden, who won in South Carolina, and then in 10 out of 14 Super Tuesday states after other more moderate contenders threw their support behind him, POLITICO explained. Biden continued to do well throughout March, and now has 1,127 delegates compared to Sanders' 914, according to the most recent delegate count from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/delegate-count-primary-results.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>Biden's climate policies are more moderate than Sanders' as of now. His plan has a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sanders-biden-climate-coronavirus-2645497732.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" target="_self">much lower price tag</a> of $1.7 trillion dollars and a score of 72 out of 100 from Greenpeace. The organization applauded his commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, investing in clean energy and restoring international climate leadership, but faulted him for not promising to ban all oil and gas drilling on public lands and to end all federal permits for fossil fuel infrastructure.</p><p>There is a chance Biden will ultimately run on a more ambitious plan, however. Sanders said he would keep his name on the ballot in the remaining primaries to boost his delegate count in order to have more influence over the party platform.</p><p>The Biden campaign is also working to bring in Sanders' supporters by incorporating some of his policies, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/biden-sanders-campaign-policy.html?auth=login-google" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. In a virtual fundraiser Wednesday, Biden hinted he would add some more progressive ideas to his climate plan, and POLITICO reports he is in talks with the Sunrise Movement.</p><p>The Sunrise Movement is also one of a coalition of youth-led groups that sent a letter to Biden urging him to endorse certain policies including a Green New Deal.</p>
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<p>"If Joe Biden is going to be the nominee on the Democratic side, we are going to champion Joe Biden and put all muscle behind" his election, Sunrise Movement Executive Director Varshini Prakash told The New York Times. But then she addressed Biden directly, suggesting he also had work to do. "You haven't earned our vote yet," she said.</p>
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The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana has been converted to a 1,000-bed field hospital for coronavirus patients to alleviate stress on local hospitals. Chris Graythen / Getty Images
An area in Louisiana whose predominantly black and brown residents are hard-hit by health problems from industry overdevelopment is experiencing one of the highest death rates from coronavirus of any county in the United States.
<p>St. John the Baptist parish, which sits along the Gulf Coast region known as Cancer Alley, has seen 30 of its 43,000 residents die of Covid-19 since the outbreak began – a death rate of 68.7 per 100,000 people, compared to New York City's rate of 29. </p>
<p> "We were getting calls almost every hour," parish coroner Christy Montegut told The Guardian. "...They all died in the same way. They got to a hospital, were on a ventilator, but the body just couldn't keep going. They died in spite of full treatment. The virus is overwhelming." </p>
<h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/07/cancer-alley-coronavirus-reserve-louisiana?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pke94n/cancer-alley-has-some-of-the-highest-coronavirus-death-rates-in-the-country?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">Vice</a>, <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_ad6caecc-7905-11ea-b8ad-7ff3f62ac403.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">Times-Picayune</a>, <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/a-look-inside-a-rural-louisiana-hospital-on-the-front-lines-of-a-pandemic/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86009723&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9O7CzxMNMlqWquKhJ3PgJMlwB6PdLVXggkKDAgxnwo57ue5pi11mY50_pt26T2aCtPsvxVnJFQ1mtgOSLAO-HZYZOZrUFb9MPvWOad7tp2ei4FELk&_hsmi=86009723" target="_blank">CA Healthline</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A woman lies in bed with the flu. marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A central player in the fight against the novel coronavirus is our immune system. It protects us against the invader and can even be helpful for its therapy. But sometimes it can turn against us.
How does our immune system react to the coronavirus?
<p>The coronavirus is — like any other virus — not much more than a shell around genetic material and a few proteins. To replicate, it needs a host in the form of a living cell. Once infected, this cell does what the virus commands it to do: copy information, assemble it, release it.</p><p>But this does not go unnoticed. Within a few minutes, the body's immune defense system intervenes with its innate response: Granulocytes, scavenger cells and killer cells from the blood and lymphatic system stream in to fight the virus. They are supported by numerous plasma proteins that either act as messengers or help to destroy the virus.</p><p>For many viruses and bacteria, this initial activity of the immune system is already sufficient to fight an intruder. It often happens very quickly and efficiently. We often notice only small signs that the system is working: We have a cold, a fever. </p><p>Interferons are a subgroup of signaling proteins that are normally secreted by infected cells. SARS-CoV-1, which was responsible for the SARS epidemic in 2003, appears to have suppressed the production of one of these interferons and thus at least delayed the attraction of immune cells. To what extent this is also the case with SARS-CoV-2, the name given to the coronavirus behind the current pandemic, is still unclear. However, interferons support the body's own virus defense and are now being tested as a therapy in clinical trials.</p><p>At a certain point, however, the host response is so strong that its effect can be counterproductive. For example, numerous immune cells can enter our lungs and cause the membrane through which oxygen normally passes from the air into the blood to thicken. The exchange of gases is restricted, and in the worst case, ventilation may be necessary.</p><p>Sometimes the reaction can overshoot and be directed against healthy cells as well. This could also be the case with the novel coronavirus. So drugs are also being tested that suppress an excessive immune reaction and that are already known from the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The balance between protective and overly aggressive immune processes in dealing with the coronavirus is currently a big mystery. This must now be investigated, says Achim Hörauf, Director of the <a href="http://www.microbiology-bonn.de/immip/" target="_blank">Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology</a> at the University of Bonn. </p><p>After a time delay, the acquired immune system finally sets itself in motion. It is different for every person and depends on what we have experienced and with which pathogens we have come into contact. While T cells help destroy infected cells, B cells form antibodies that can keep the virus in check. In the case of the coronavirus, these are neutralizing antibodies that bind to the spike protein of the virus. This is the site of attack of the virus, with which it enters the host, i.e. our human cell. Neutralizing antibodies specifically incapacitate the spike protein. Our immune system remembers the antibodies it has produced and is thus prepared for a new infection with the same intruder.<br></p>
Is there an immunity? How long does it last?
<p>The good news is that it is very likely there is an immunity. This is suggested by the proximity to other viruses, epidemiological data and animal experiments. Researchers <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.13.990226v1" target="_blank">infected four rhesus monkeys,</a> a species close to humans, with SARS-CoV-2. The monkeys showed symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, developed neutralizing antibodies and recovered after a few days. When the recovered animals were reinfected with the virus, they no longer developed any symptoms: They were immune. </p><p>The bad news: It is not (yet) known how long the immunity will last. It depends on whether a patient has successfully developed neutralizing antibodies. Achim Hörauf estimates that the immunity should last at least one year. Within this year, every new contact with the virus acts as a kind of booster vaccination, which in turn might prolong the immunity.</p><p>"The virus is so new that nobody has a reasonable immune response," says the immunologist. He believes that lifelong immunity is unlikely. This "privilege" is reserved for viruses that remain in the body for a long time and give our immune system a virtually permanent opportunity to get to know it. Since the coronavirus is an RNA (and not a DNA) virus, it cannot permanently settle in the body, says Hörauf.</p><p>The Heidelberg immunologist <a href="https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/immunologie/immunologie" target="_blank">Stefan Meuer</a> predicts that the novel coronavirus will also mutate like all viruses. He assumes that this could be the case in 10 to 15 years: "At some point, the acquired immunity will no longer be of any use to us because then another coronavirus will return, against which the protection that has now been formed will not help us because the virus has changed in such a way that the antibodies are no longer responsible. And then no vaccination will help either."</p>How can we take advantage of the antibody response of the immune system?
<p>Researchers are already collecting plasma from people who have successfully survived an infection with SARS-CoV-2 and are using it to treat a limited number of patients suffering from COVID-19. The underlying principle: <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-drugs-can-antibodies-from-survivors-help/a-52806428" target="_blank">passive immunization.</a> The studies carried out to date have shown positive results, but they have usually been carried out on only a few people.</p><p>At best, passive immunization is used only when the patient's own immune system has already started to work against the virus, says Achim Hörauf: "The longer you can leave the patients alone with the infection before you protect them with passive immunization, the better." Only through active immunization can one be protected in the long term. At the same time, it is difficult to recognize the right point in time.</p><p>PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests are currently used to find out whether a person is infected with the coronavirus. With the help of PCR, it is not possible to tell whether or not there is reproducible viral RNA; it is just a proof of whether the virus is still present, dead or alive. A PCR test cannot tell us whether our immune system has already intervened, i.e. whether we have had contact with the virus in the past, have formed antibodies and are now protected. Researchers are therefore working on tests that check our blood for the presence of antibodies. They are already in use in Singapore, for example, and are nearing completion in the USA. With the help of these tests, it would finally be possible to gain an overview <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/corona-confusion-how-to-make-sense-of-the-numbers-and-terminology/a-52825433" target="_blank">of the unclear case numbers.</a> In addition, people who have developed antibodies against the virus could be used at the forefront of health care, for example. An "immunity passport" is even under discussion.</p>Is it possible to become infected and/or ill several times with the coronavirus?
<p>"According to all we know, it is not possible with the same pathogen," says Achim Hörauf. It is possible to become infected with other coronaviruses or viruses from the SARS or MERS group if their spike proteins look different. "As far as the current epidemic is concerned, it can be assumed that people who have been through COVID-19 will not become ill from it for the time being and will not transmit the virus any further," he says.</p>How long before you're no longer contagious?
<p>A study <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2196-x" target="_blank">carried out on the first coronavirus patients in Germany</a> showed that no viruses that are capable of replication can be found from day eight after the onset of symptoms, even though PCR can still detect up to 100,000 gene copies per sample. This could change the current quarantine recommendations in the future.</p><p>According to the Robert Koch Institute, patients can currently be discharged from hospital if they show two negative PCR samples from the throat within 24 hours. If they have had a severe case of the disease, they should remain in domestic isolation for another two weeks. For each discharge, whether from hospital or home isolation, they should have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours.</p>Why do people react differently to the virus?
<p>While some people get off with a mild cold, others are put on ventilators or even die of SARS-Cov-2. Especially people with <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-who-is-particularly-at-risk-and-why/a-52710881" target="_blank">pre-existing conditions</a> and older people seem to be worst-affected by the virus. Why? This is the hottest question at the moment.</p><p>It will still take a very, very long time to understand the mechanistic, biological basis for why some people are so much more severely affected than others, virologist Angela Rasmussen told <em>The Scientist</em>. "The virus is important, but the host response is at least as important, if not more important," her colleague Stanley Perlman told the magazine.</p><p>Stefan Meuer sees a fundamental survival principle of nature in the different equipment and activity of our immune systems: "If we were all the same, one and the same virus could wipe out the entire human species at once. Due to the genetic range, it is quite normal that some people die from a viral disease while others do not even notice it. "</p><p>Achim Hörauf also suspects immunological variants that could be genetically determined. Since interstitial pneumonia is observed with the coronavirus, the focus is probably on an overreaction of the immune system. However, it is also possible that each person affected may have been loaded with a different dose of the virus, which in turn leads to different outcomes. And finally, it makes a difference how robust the body and lungs are: Competitive athletes simply have more lung volume than long-time smokers. </p>From Your Site Articles
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