I tend to be someone who is not does not usually stay up to date on the events going on in the world intentionally. I tend to discover major events that are occurring from a peer who asks me about it and I pretend to understand what they are talking about so as to not appear uncultured or uninformed. The Coronavirus outbreak was no different. I have not heard many specifics about the virus except for that it is deadly, it is centralized in China, however, there are cases in the US currently. This blog post provided me with an opportunity to learn more about something that is having a large effect on the world currently and as a citizen of America I should be informed on anything that may place me or my family in danger. It important to understand what onset of a virus would look like, means of transmission and the possible prevention/treatment options for a virus so one can be prepared and protected from the virus. In my research I first needed to understand what exactly the virus it so I found one article that clearly explained the technicalities of the virus.

The virus is a single stranded mRNA genome with a nucleocapsid which contains phosphoprotein and all of those components together for a helical nucleocapsid. it is also an enveloped virus. On the surface of the bilayer there are glycoprotein spikes that allow it to attach to host cells for infection. The virus was typically found in mammals and in birds. There are several different strains of the coronavirus and around thrity percent of common colds are caused by the virus. Typically, it causes an upper respiratory infection and goes away through the normal immune response. The virus produces an S protein that serves many different and essential functions within the cell including binding to the host cell and fusing the host cell membrane with the viral membrane. While this protein is known to be essential, scientists are still unsure of its true significance and believe it to have a larger impact on the function of the cell than is already understood.

In December of 2019 the outbreaks of the deadly strain of the corona virus began in China. Symptoms included cough, fever, lesions in both lungs and difficulty breathing. The disease spreads through person to person contact and you must be within six feet of an infected host in order to contract the disease. Therefore is highly contagious and spread quickly into other countries within Asia and into the US. Researchers predict that it will continue to spread into other countries before the outbreak is over. There is no vaccine or cure currently because the outbreak is so new and scientists still know very little about this particular strain. most of the precautions and information they have released to the public about the disease is based on what they know of the other strains of the virus.

In a published paper, written by Andrew Wakefield, there is the detailed summary of an experimental trail and its findings regarding possible causes of regressive developmental disorder. My understanding is that he claims that his research supports that the Measles, Mumps and rubella vaccine is a factor causing the condition. Another article, written in response to the retraction, analyzes the flawed aspects of the experiment, motivations and conclusions. There was a small sample size of only twelve children, who were selected for the experiment based on their consecutive referrals to a gastroenterology office to check their behavioral regression. This article reveals that Wakefield was motivated to publish his paper, drawing the connection between the vaccine and the developmental disorder, because of the financial gains he would make. Other independent studies had been conducted that refuted his theory very quickly after his paper had been published, further tarnishing the credibility of his conclusions. Even ten of the twelve co-authors of the paper admitted that there was not enough evidence to maintain the claim that the MMR vaccine makes children vulnerable to developmental issues.

A study conducted by Roos Bernsen and Johannes Van Der Wouden, aimed to support the MMR vaccine by supporting that it does not cause atopy, as many have speculated. Many refuse the vaccine for their child with the intention of improving their child’s immunity to other diseases, specifically in this study atopy. This is important because refusing vaccination reduces the effect of herd immunity and can lead to breakouts of measles, mumps, and rubella. The study was conducted with both vaccinated and un-vaccinated children and the association between atopy and vaccination was studied. Scientists concluded that un-vaccinated children who had had MMR diseases were no more protected from atopy than the vaccinated children. This supports the claim that atopy is not caused by the MMR vaccine.

Reading both of these articles reveals the importance of honest and unbiased scientific research. As a trusted source, the public should be able to trust the findings of published articles, however the Wakefield retracted article shows some of the possible politics that can be found even in scientific research. This is a good thing to become aware of. The second article that studied the possible protective qualities of opting out of the MMR vaccine was important in my opinion because vaccination for the general health of the population is so important and should be encouraged especially in the scholarly science field. It is important to show as much scientific data that vaccines are not harmful to the body.

My name is Sarah Chapman and I am a second year pre-nursing major here at UNC Chapel Hill. i am from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am Young Life leader at Chapel hill where I get to spend time mentoring high school student in the area. I am also a tutor at East chapel hill high school for biology and math. I love college and especially chapel hill because of the amazing people here and the beautiful campus I get to walk around every day. I am hoping and praying that I do well in this class.

this is a test so that i can practice making postings on this website

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.