The New Significance Of COVID-19 In Mink - Hypothermia

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Has anyone recognized the significance of the recent development of COVID-19 in the farmed mink population around the world and the similarities of it to the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan involving bats. Mink are farmed in the cold to promote fur growth and their caged status results in very low metabolic rates which produces an almost constant state of below normal body temperature or hypothermia. The caged bats in the cold outdoor Wuhan markets were also likely hypothermic because of their inability to fly and produce heat from the high metabolic efforts of flight. Both animal groups were therefore likely hypothermic when fighting the zoonotic coronavirus and their immune systems might have been unable to handle their infections. This might put a new light on the fact that the vast majority of human COVID deaths around the world are mostly happening to sedentary seniors, diabetics and respiratory ventilator patients that all suffer a form of hypothermia in core body or lung temperatures. Workers in refrigerated conditions like the meat industry as well as colder seasonal temperatures are also likely causing people to experience some form of mild hypothermia that may be contributing to the second wave of COVID infections. Maybe it is time to investigate the idea that literally every aspect of COVID-19 has some form of hypothermia related to it while the people least affected by it are almost hyperthermic with their high metabolisms and ability to produce fevers. Surely that is worth a more positive approach to research than these constant efforts to disprove, redirect and misinterpret obvious clues.
 
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This is an interesting concept about temperature and COVID-19.

It is well known that some viruses are better able to infect and cause disease in cooler areas of the body. Which is why rhinoviruses tend to do best in the nasal cavities, where the air cools the tissue, as opposed to the lungs, which are warmer.

Regarding the impact on cold temperatures and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, it is not so clear as to what is going on, at least in human populations. Two of the four countries with the most cases are India and Brazil. Both are largely equatorial with higher average temperatures than most countries. The average temperature in Brazil is ca. 75 F, and the average in India is about the same. Of course the temperatures can vary substantially, depending on where you are.

The U.S., with the highest number of infections (despite having less than 5% of the global population) has wildly different temperatures, of course, but the heat does not seem to have spared the warmer states, like Florida, Texas, and California. The rates of infection are going up all over, and this is not a result of the onset of colder weather now, since the current surge began long before cold weather set in. It takes time for the rate of infections to catch up to symptoms, and then any continuous increase in spread. The stage was set for the current surge back in late summer.

It seems unlikely that bats are significantly impacted by cold weather, at least relative to corona-viruses. While surely some of them die from viral infections, many are simply carriers of these viruses, which replicate in bats at very low levels to escape immune surveillance. While caged bats may have reduced body temperatures, so do bats hanging in cold caves for extended periods every day.

It certainly seems likely that reduced temperatures have an impact on SAR-CoV-2 infectivity. But other factors are also at play, such as innate immunity (or the lack of it), specifically against corona-viruses. The sensitivity to infection in mink is curious, but on the surface would not seem to be related to the cold temperatures, since these animals evolved in such conditions. One would think they would have an active immune system adapted to living in the cold. Caged animals, breed for fur etc, might represent a different set of conditions, however.

Above all, it would seem that the affinity of the S protein of the virus for the ACE2 target in any potential host would be the most significant factor, since this is the primary means by which the virus invades host cells and replicates. The higher the affinity, the more likely one will observe pathogenic results.
 
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You do not need overly cold temperatures to create hypothermia in seniors, or diabetics that can naturally be near 35C at a normal room temperature of 23C. Ventilator patients however get gas that is well below normal body temperatures piped directly to the lungs. We are also talking severe cases and deaths not just positive cases . Nighttime, air conditioning, altitude, refrigeration and swimming can also affect the severity in warm climates. I suspect the level of hypothermia is directly proportional to the severity of the disease. Obviously with colder weather the severity of the disease has been increasing.
Yes bats live in cold dark caves with normal body temperatures of around 37C but every time they fly they increase their body temperatures by at least 3C because of the high metabolism required for flight and essentially give themselves a Hyperthermic Treatment or fever every time. Caged for a number of days without the benefits of the warming flights will allow any virus to proliferate much more readily. As far as the mink you are forgetting they are caged as well and kept cold on purpose to promote fur growth, they are in fact more hypothermic than an active wild mink. There are also so many more clues as well, were you aware Ibuprofen shuts down your hypothalamus and too much can drop your temperature into the hypothermia range. How about the smokers paradox, the unexplainable fact that active smokers are totally unrepresented in the COVID numbers. Researchers have been looking for months at nicotine smoke and still can not figure it out. Everyone seems to miss the fact that every time a smoker inhales they give their lungs a Hyperthermic Treatment with the hot smoke not unlike what the bat does when it flys. How about the early 1900s when they used to infect syphilis patients with malaria to create a high enough fever to kill the disease, it was known as Malaria Therapy. The final issue is that you don’t need the 158F to “kill” the virus protein, you just have to be hot enough to stop it from replicating. Funny thing though, saunas start at 160F and go up to 190F.
 
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I suspect the level of hypothermia is directly proportional to the severity of the disease.

This is certainly a distinct possibility. One of the reasons we develop fevers is to fight off infections. If the body cannot develop elevated temperatures, the severity of the disease could increase.

Obviously with colder weather the severity of the disease has been increasing.

The disease was increasing all over the world during the late summer. It seems that internal body temperature has more to do with the severity issue than infectivity. After all, with more infected during the late summer, one can only expect, with the lack of mitigation efforts, that cases are going to rise into the fall and winter. The issue with cold weather regards people crowded in-doors, and amplifying infections. This would argue against enhanced temperature to moderate the disease.

So while there is agreement on the course of an infection regarding body temperature, the impact of cold weather on contracting it is not as likely (purely from the temperature aspect).

Caged for a number of days without the benefits of the warming flights will allow any virus to proliferate much more readily. As far as the mink you are forgetting they are caged as well and kept cold on purpose to promote fur growth, they are in fact more hypothermic than an active wild mink.

There is no doubt that these caged animals are under more stress and certainly more susceptible to infections and disease. But the higher density of animals vs. wild animals also makes transmission of the virus much more likely. But the stresses of caging, and other aspects of their treatment may well assist the virus in spreading, and also increasing its pathogenicity.

How about the smokers paradox, the unexplainable fact that active smokers are totally unrepresented in the COVID numbers. Researchers have been looking for months at nicotine smoke and still can not figure it out.

It is true that smokers are under-represented among virus infections, but the reason is not likely heat. It is believed to result from a sequence of amino acids on the surface of the spike protein which binds to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (1). It is believed that consuming nicotine blocks this binding site, and likely moderates the pathogenecity of the infection. The article below offers compelling evidence for this, at atomic resolution.


1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7461543/
 
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The study you quote is absolutely based on a theoretical notion and it’s inconclusive conclusions as stated will require much further study. NOBODY has even considered the Hyperthermic treatment of smoke inhalation and therefore no consideration or testing has even been considered. This does not mean that it falls into the proverbial “There is no scientific evidence to support the theory” it just means no researchers have bothered to test it. Literally ALL the clues point to hypothermia being a significant factor in the severity of COVID-19 and here is a prime clue that Hyperthermic Treatments may easily be a simple solution. Surely these obvious clues are worthy of some serious research and testing.
 
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This does not mean that it falls into the proverbial “There is no scientific evidence to support the theory”

Indeed, there is significant evidence tending to support it as fact.

To be sure, the concept of nicotine acting to mitigate Covid-19 infectivity may be theoretical, but there are many studies that have demonstrated that smokers are under-represented in infected individuals (1,2). There cannot be too many reasons for why this would be, and is actually expected to have the opposite result.

There are references to this in many places.

Quoting from (1):

"a review of 174 cohort studies revealed an unexpected low number of current smokers among subjects tested for SARS-CoV-2 infections"

end quote

(That does not read so well as "theoretical data", but does trend to the realm of "empirical evidence".)

Quoting from (2):

"Compared with never smokers, current smokers appear to be at reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection while former smokers appear to be at increased risk of hospitalization, increased disease severity and mortality from COVID-19."

end quote

One can devise a number of reasons for these clinical findings, but these are the facts. If smokers catch the disease, however, they have a greater chance of severe symptoms.

It does not seem likely that inhaling hot air from cigarettes etc. is going to protect one from infection. The heating is very transient, unless one is a chain smoker. It would be a hard sell for most that the heat of smoking is going to mitigate viral infection. It is more than likely a chemical relationship.


1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7605409/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7590402/
 
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The whole premise of the Hyperthermic Treatment is to “stop the virus from replicating” before it gets a chance to proliferate and then involve the immune system. All viruses have an optimal temperature of replication usually less than core body temperatures. It is also believed that they have a maximum temperature that they cannot replicate at all. Yes it takes 156F to kill the virus protein outright but the maximum replication temperature is in fact obviously within the fever range of bats and human youths. Technically there should be no way human youths should have these specific coronavirus antibodies so to me that means that the heat of their fever is the only thing left to stop the virus in its tracks before the immune system antibodies are required. Apparently the heat of inhaled smoke can reach temperatures into the hundreds of degrees but without research nobody will know at what temperature it reaches the lungs.

On another note you should also be aware of the two other animals with similar temperature clues associated with mans most deadly pandemics. The pig (swine flu) has huge temperature issues (BCT range of 38C to 41C) both because it’s lack of sweat glands and it’s lack of hair. The most deadly disease of all, MERS however, is associated with the camel that in fact does not sweat until it reaches a temperature of 43C to preserve water in the desert. The one factor that connects all of these three animals is body temperature, no one can deny that, so we would be crazy to ignore the clues without considering and researching them.
 
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Technically there should be no way human youths should have these specific coronavirus antibodies so to me that means that the heat of their fever is the only thing left to stop the virus in its tracks before the immune system antibodies are required.


Firstly, age would not impact the issue of neutralizing antibodies in individual susceptibility to this virus. No one has antibodies helping them on this one unless they are already infected, and these sometimes do not show up in time for older people.

Your notion that fever is all the youth have going for them indicates a lack of understanding of basic immunity. Young people have much less problem due to much higher immune competence. Their "innate immunity", which relies on numerous cellular and chemical components that serve as the front line of defense against pathogens, is at optimal function. It is ready to go with anything that comes along. As one ages, this function declines, and we rely more on the secondary responses to stop infections, (antibodies, etc.), but these are slower to respond, so we can get sicker as we get older.

Try reading some on innate immunity. The first stage is inflammation, which causes fever, and mobilizes all kinds of mechanisms to fight off pathogens. It is certainly not just the increase in temperature. You will find it is vastly more complex than that.

Here is a good link if you think this is an acceptable source for information (I use it all the time and rarely find any errors):


Otherwise, it is advisable that you find another source to review innate immunity. You will get a much better understanding of why younger people are less prone to symptoms after infection.

We have beaten the thermal aspect to death. No doubt there are issues with cold, and it seems likely that there are people studying this. The ideal conditions for replication of the virus are essential to understanding how to control it, and temperature is way up there on that list.
 
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I guess all I can say is there are almost 70 million cases of COVID-19 and over 1.5 million deaths so far and up to this point the advanced immunity research has not saved a single life or prevented a single case so far. Literally all they have is social distancing, masks and hope that those multi billion dollar vaccines MIGHT work. At this point I am not aware of one single research project that set out to actually physically test the thermal aspect by applying a Hyperthermic Treatment to a COVID patient other than that of the inadvertent active smokers paradox. Now please tell me again which aspect has been beaten to death and which aspect has been continually buried under misdirection and misinformation.