People are being too blase..the virus is already here
Virus doesn’t care about borders or ethnicity.. all it wants is a body to infect
The scientist who has been working round the clock to develop the coronavirus vaccine believes the disease is already in Scotland.
Dr Kate Broderick, who is head molecular geneticist at Inovio Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, California, admits COVID-19 is the “scariest” virus she has come across and says the world needs to sit up and pay attention.
The mum of two, who grew up in Dunfermline, Fife, says coronavirus, which has now killed more than 2000 people and infected more than 82,000 worldwide, alarms her more than the deadly Ebola virus due to the speed with which it is spreading and warns no corner of the planet is safe.
Kate, 42, whose team of researchers are testing their potential vaccine on mice and guinea pigs, also believes people should think twice about visiting or holidaying in affected areas.
She said: “I would not be surprised if there are already cases in Scotland that have not been picked up yet. I can’t speak to that definitively but that would be my sense for countries across the world.
“COVID-19 is literally popping up all over the globe. I don’t want to be a scare mongerer but people should be taking this incredibly seriously. I think folk are being a little bit too blase about what is happening.
“A virus does not care about borders or the ethnicity of the person it is infecting – all it wants is another human body to infect. This is all around us.
“The fact entire cities and regions are being shut down speaks to just how serious the situation is. Just look at how much of Italy is in lockdown. It is insane. With other diseases and flus, this would not happen.”
Kate, who has been sleeping just two hours a night in a bid to get her coronavirus ready for clinical trials, added: “Obviously
I’m not a politician but from a public health perspective you should not be going on holiday to affected areas, as you’ve seen how fast it spreads.
The former St Columba’s High School pupil, who helped to create successful vaccines for ebola, zika, lassa fever and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), says to her, COVID19, is the most frightening virus she has come across.
She said: “All viruses pose their own kind of complexities but this for me has been an eye opening experience. This virus is particularly scary to me due to the speed of spread we are seeing.
“Ebola is horrific because if you catch it you have a 50 per cent chance of dying a horrible death but if you develop it you become very ill very fast and can be isolated quickly.
“With COVID-19 you could have it right now, have no symptoms and be going to work, the pub and Asda and unknowingly infecting everyone around you. “The incubation seems to be a fortnight or longer and some people’s symptoms might be so mild they won’t even know they have it.”
Kate, who moved to California 20 years ago after completing her PhD at Glasgow University, says although early tests of her team’s vaccine are looking positive, it will be another few months until it is at the clinical trial stage and the end of the year – all being well – before it can be rolled out.
She said: “We have to thank the Chinese authorities for giving us the DNA sequence of the virus so quickly because without that we really couldn’t have done anything.
“Vaccines are hugely important because even if they come up with a treatment tomorrow, which would be great, you are only treating the people who are sick and not helping the spread in any way.”