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Possible virus vulnerability discovered; About 20% of people with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic


The spike protein on the novel coronavirus that helps it break into healthy cells has a tiny "pocket" that could make it vulnerable to antiviral drugs, researchers have discovered. 

Using a powerful imaging technique called electron cryo-microscopy, they studied the molecular structure of the virus and found the pocket, with a small molecule, linoleic acid (LA), buried inside.

LA molecules are critical to the immune functions "that go haywire in COVID-19," coauthor Imre Berger from the Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology in the UK said in a news release.

"And the virus that is causing all this chaos, according to our data, grabs and holds on to exactly this molecule - basically disarming much of the body's defenses."

In a paper published on Monday in Science, researchers note that common-cold-causing rhinoviruses have a similar pocket, and drugs that fit into the pocket by mimicking fatty acids like LA have lessened symptoms in human clinical trials.

This suggests, they say, that drugs developed to target the pocket on the coronavirus spike protein might help eliminate COVID-19.

Only 1 in 5 infected with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic

Most people infected with the new coronavirus will have symptoms, according to researchers who reviewed data from nearly 80 studies of individuals with positive PCR tests for COVID-19.

Overall, just 20% remained asymptomatic.

Five of the studies provided enough data for the researchers to examine the spread of the disease.

Compared to COVID-19 patients with symptoms, patients who never developed symptoms were 65% less likely to transmit the virus to others, the researchers reported on Tuesday in the journal PloS Medicine.

"A minority of people has truly asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and, if they are less infectious than people with symptoms, they probably account for a relatively small proportion of all transmission," coauthor Dr. Nicola Low of the University of Bern told Reuters.

"Most people will go on to develop symptoms and there is a substantial amount of transmission during the pre-symptomatic phase," Low said.

That means prevention measures to reduce transmission, including face covering, social distancing, physical barriers and widespread testing and contact tracing to find and isolate contagious people remains necessary. -- Reuters

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