Researchers Discover a Second 'Key' That Makes The New Coronavirus So Infectious

MIKE MCRAE 23 OCTOBER 2020

 

It's been 17 years since the coronavirus SARS-CoV threatened to erupt into a global pandemic. Thanks to rapid efforts to contain outbreaks of the infection, the world's population was spared the worst.

 

This time we weren't so fortunate. Just what makes SARS-CoV-2 so much more infectious than its predecessor is a question we're now a little closer to solving, with researchers uncovering yet another way the virus gains entry into our cells.

 

Researchers from the Technical University of Munich in Germany and the University of Helsinki in Finland led a study that discovered a receptor called neuropilin-1 gives the novel coronavirus a leg-up in infecting our tissues.

 

Read more: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-second-key-used-by-sars-cov-2-to-enter-cells-could-explain-why-it-s-so-infectious

From my understanding, the fact so many can be infected but asymptomatic (not know they are infected) is one of the main reasons the SARS-CoV-2 virus can spread so easily (infectious). Asymptomatic people go about their normal life infecting others causing the virus to spread quickly; whereas with SARS-CoV-1, infected people quickly showed flu-like symptoms so both they and others (including public health/medical personnel) could isolate/treat them and protect the public.