• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Animal and human immune systems

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
“In most other mammals, having such a hyper-vigilant immune response would cause harmful inflammation. Bats, however, have adapted anti-inflammatory traits that protect them from such harm.” — Cara Brook et al.

I was looking up how our immune system's ability to fight off some viruses cannot fight off others. One of which is AIDS (if I'm not mistaken) as well as the new coronavirus to compare the two for point. We didn't have much for treatment when AIDS first came out but now we have.

One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?

I know we have treatment for AIDS now, but I'm more focused on the type of virus and the spread rather than the type of treatment and if it works.

Zoonotic diseases: Why are infections from animals so dangerous to hu

One reason viruses from animals are so dangerous to humans is that people have no means to deal with them. Our immune system was never ‘introduced’ to these novel viruses, so it doesn’t know how to respond to the uninvited guest.

Researchers explain that most of the viruses that enter the human body are successfully destroyed by the immune system or pass through our gastrointestinal system. However, now and then, an animal virus manages to replicate within a human host.....

Edit.

Coronavirus vs. flu: How to tell the difference
 
Last edited:

Regiomontanus

Ματαιοδοξία ματαιοδοξιών! Όλα είναι ματαιοδοξία.
I was looking up how our immune system's ability to fight off some viruses cannot fight off others. One of which is AIDS (if I'm not mistaken) as well as the new coronavirus to compare the two for point. We didn't have much for treatment when AIDS first came out but now we have.

One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?

I know we have treatment for AIDS now, but I'm more focused on the type of virus and the spread rather than the type of treatment and if it works.

Zoonotic diseases: Why are infections from animals so dangerous to hu


I have often heard of AIDS being called a pandemic. For example,
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5531a1.htm
The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic, 2006

The title of your post bothers me :). You of course mean humans and nonhuman animals.
 

epronovost

Well-Known Member
One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?

AIDS is a pandemic and was treated as such, but the virus isn't very contagious. It's only a sexually transmitted disease and even without treatment, condoms are very efficient at blocking the transmission of such a disease (circumcision was also a bit of help apparently). Since the disease doesn't spread easily, social distancing and quarantines were unecessary. Simpler methods like contraceptives and depisting tests were enough to contain the disease relatively well.

The reason you don't immunity to virus X, but to virus Y is that virus is similar to a class of organism just like bacteria or animal. They take a myriad of forms and use a variety of processes to reproduce and infect their hosts producing a variety of diseases. Many virus, are also highly adaptative and mutable which means that they adapt to our method of treatment and our immune responses making curing people even more difficult.
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?
I could imagine that one of the reasons the general public might not see or refer to AIDS the same way as the Coronavirus could be because of the way it spreads. For the most part you have to do something proactive to get it, whereas corona probably make people feel like they could get it whenever, even if they are careful.

Not saying that AIDS is not a pandemic, simply a guess of why people might refer to them differently.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
“In most other mammals, having such a hyper-vigilant immune response would cause harmful inflammation. Bats, however, have adapted anti-inflammatory traits that protect them from such harm.” — Cara Brook et al.

I was looking up how our immune system's ability to fight off some viruses cannot fight off others. One of which is AIDS (if I'm not mistaken) as well as the new coronavirus to compare the two for point. We didn't have much for treatment when AIDS first came out but now we have.

One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?

I know we have treatment for AIDS now, but I'm more focused on the type of virus and the spread rather than the type of treatment and if it works.

Zoonotic diseases: Why are infections from animals so dangerous to hu

One reason viruses from animals are so dangerous to humans is that people have no means to deal with them. Our immune system was never ‘introduced’ to these novel viruses, so it doesn’t know how to respond to the uninvited guest.

Researchers explain that most of the viruses that enter the human body are successfully destroyed by the immune system or pass through our gastrointestinal system. However, now and then, an animal virus manages to replicate within a human host.....
Our immune system CAN fight off the new coronavirus. Mine is doing so at this very moment.;)

But it takes a while for it to work out what antibodies to make to deactivate a type of virus it has not seen before. So we get ill first and then, mostly, recover.

But thanks for the article. It is interesting about the immune system of bats. What I do not yet understand is how bats can have transmitted it to pangolins, which are scaly anteaters and obviously don't eat bats!
 

epronovost

Well-Known Member
Yes I suppose that's right. Ants crawling on them and then, hey presto!

Bat droppings often attract a variety of mushrooms who grow well in amonia rich environment and many ant species are known to enjoy mushrooms and fongus of all sorts. I'm not an expert and have made no research on the subject, but as far as hypothesis pulled from my rear end, that seems to make sense prima faci.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Our immune system CAN fight off the new coronavirus. Mine is doing so at this very moment.;)

But it takes a while for it to work out what antibodies to make to deactivate a type of virus it has not seen before. So we get ill first and then, mostly, recover.

But thanks for the article. It is interesting about the immune system of bats. What I do not yet understand is how bats can have transmitted it to pangolins, which are scaly anteaters and obviously don't eat bats!

They say a lot of people who contract the coronavirus recover from it after awhile. They make it seem like if you have it, you'll grow an extra eye or so have you. One of my church mates have it too. The thing is, shortness of breath, fever, cough (no sneezing) tends to be normal symptoms of a sick body. So, I wouldn't be surprised many recover.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
What he means is that human are animals. Animal is a large category of being the regroups stuff like arthropodes, fishes, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibiens and several others.

The article is assuming that animals and humans have different immune systems. So, in that respect, a bat having a type of immune system to fight off the virus, humans don't have.
 

epronovost

Well-Known Member
They say a lot of people who contract the coronavirus recover from it after awhile. They make it seem like if you have it, you'll grow an extra eye or so have you. One of my church mates have it too. The thing is, shortness of breath, fever, cough (no sneezing) tends to be normal symptoms of a sick body. So, I wouldn't be surprised many recover.

On average, 99% of people infected survive the disease if I remember correctly. Of course it varies depending your age and if you have pre-existing respitory issues like severe asthma or if you are a heavy smoker for example.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
“In most other mammals, having such a hyper-vigilant immune response would cause harmful inflammation. Bats, however, have adapted anti-inflammatory traits that protect them from such harm.” — Cara Brook et al.

I was looking up how our immune system's ability to fight off some viruses cannot fight off others. One of which is AIDS (if I'm not mistaken) as well as the new coronavirus to compare the two for point. We didn't have much for treatment when AIDS first came out but now we have.

One question I have is why did we not consider AIDS (and other viruses and illnesses) a pandemic as we do this one?

It *is* and has been a pandemic:

Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS - Wikipedia
Pandemic - Wikipedia
 
Last edited:

exchemist

Veteran Member
They say a lot of people who contract the coronavirus recover from it after awhile. They make it seem like if you have it, you'll grow an extra eye or so have you. One of my church mates have it too. The thing is, shortness of breath, fever, cough (no sneezing) tends to be normal symptoms of a sick body. So, I wouldn't be surprised many recover.
I do not understand this post.
 
Top