The spread of Wuhan Coronavirus in China and around the world has caused an international panic of an unprecedented level. Many people have fallen ill and died in China, and the number of infections worldwide is slowly growing as well. While it's important to stay safe and avoid unnecessary travel, we still need to find a way to stop the deadly virus from spreading.
In such a scenario, where the Coronavirus outbreak is reaching pandemic levels, a ray of hope is on the horizon. And it comes in the form of an Indian scientist doing exemplary work to save the world.
In a major breakthrough that can lead to a quick Coronavirus vaccine, a team of scientists led by an overseas citizen of India, Professor SS Vasan of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Dangerous Pathogens Team has successfully mass produced the novel Coronavirus strain outside China in sufficiently large number to begin clinical trial of medicine.
According to reports, last week Australia's Doherty Institute had managed to isolate the Coronavirus sample from an infected human in Australia, but what Prof SS Vasan and his team has done at CSIRO is significantly better for getting to a Coronavirus vaccine quickly.
Prof SS Vasan is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and IISC Bengaluru, before moving to Trinity College, Oxford, on a Rhodes scholarship. In the past, he has worked closely on developing newer vaccines for dengue, chikungunya and zika virus.
What's important from a Coronavirus cure perspective is that Prof SS Vasan is the principal investigator of CSIRO's clinical pre-response project, and even though several different agencies within Australia and around the world are racing ahead to get a cure, Prof Vasan's team is in the lead on that charge.
Wuhan Virus is a kind of coronavirus like SARS and MERS. Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that are normally contracted from animals (like civet cats caused SARS in China). Even though the Wuhan Virus originated from the seafood market in the city -- with most of the initial victims being either vendors or buyers at the fish market. Researchers were able to find the virus similar to the ones found in bats and snakes.
The disease spreads from human contact so for being safe from it, personal hygiene is of utmost importance. Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika (BMC) among other authorities across the nation have issued a set of guidelines (which are identical to what WHO has been recommending) to stay safe from the Wuhan Coronavirus.