Epidemiology 3b

Question 1

What are viruses known to do when transmitting?

Answer 1

Viruses are known to mutate when transmitting (Royal Society, 2020).

Question 2

How quickly does SARS-CoV-2 mutate in comparison to other RNA viruses?

Answer 2

SARS-CoV-2 mutates slower than other RNA viruses (2.5x10-6 substitutions/nucleotide/cell)

Question 3

Give an example of how slow sars-cov-2 mutates compared to other RNA viruses.

Answer 3

SARS-CoV-2 mutates 4X slower than influenza virus.

Question 4

How did authors classify positive sars-cov-2 tests?

Answer 4

Authors have then classified positive SARS-CoV-2 tests according to :
- presence of amplification of both the spike protein and the nucleocapsid protein. This is the ‘classic’ SARS-CoV-2. -> “Non-SGTF”. This means the initial virus, “non-S gene target failure”.
- absence of amplification of the spike protein. This is the ‘mutated’ SARS-CoV-2, also called the “alpha 1.1.7”
variant.  “SGTF”. This means the mutant alpha B 1.1.7 virus, “S gene target failure”.

Question 5

What is the “classic” SARS-CoV-2 also known as?

Answer 5

Non-SGTF

Question 6

What does Non-SGTF mean?

Answer 6

This means the initial virus, “non-S gene target failure”.

Question 7

What is the mutated SARS-CoV-2 also called?

Answer 7

also called the “alpha 1.1.7”
variant and SGTF.

Question 8

What does “alpha 1.1.7”
variant and SGTF mean?

Answer 8

This means the mutant alpha B 1.1.7 virus, “S gene target failure”.

Question 9

There is an increased mortality in patients with the…

Answer 9

…mutant alpha B 1.1.7

Question 10

What did authors of “increased morality in community tested cases of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7” conclude?

Answer 10

Stratifying by broad age groups and by sex, residence type, ethnicity, IMD, region and
specimen date, death rates within 28 days of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test were higher among
patients with alpha B 1.1.7 than patients with classic variants.

Their analysis suggests that B.1.1.7 is not only more transmissible than pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 variants, but may also cause more severe illness.

Question 11

WHat is CI?

Answer 11

Confidence interval.

Question 12

What is SE?

Answer 12

Standard error of the mean.

Question 13

What is SD?

Answer 13

standard deviation

Question 14

What does, CI, SD, and SEM values reflect?

Answer 14

These values reflect how data varies in each group.
Evolution has made us different.
This creates variations

Question 15

Describe variation in biology?

Answer 15

Some groups vary more than others.
Variability can be difficult to manage in biology.

Question 16

What is H0?

Answer 16

Null hypothesis

Question 17

Whats the equation for the null hypothesis?

Answer 17

H0: μ1 = μ2

Question 18

Explain H0: μ1 = μ2.

Answer 18

Null hypothesis can be accepted if the mean of the the first group (u1) in equal to the mean of the second group (u2).

Question 19

What is a t test used to do?

Answer 19

To find out if something is statistically different or not.

Question 20

What happens to the null hypothesis if p value is less than 0.05?

Answer 20

We reject the null hypothesis.

“If the p value is low, the null must go”