Luis Enjuanes: "It is to be expected that the pandemic will repeat itself every 10 or 15 years"

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Luis Enjuanes directs the development of a definitive vaccine against Sars-CoV-2.

When he was about to retire, he started to spread the coronavirus and, instead of going to the shelter, he went out to see what he could contribute.

The research carried out in the laboratory of the CSIC of the Autonomous University would solve, according to the tests, the existing problems in the doses injected into the population.

Enjuanes participates this Wednesday in the I Congress of Terrorism, organized by the Community of Madrid, to talk about the biological threat.

In the year 2000, his team managed to manufacture a coronavirus for the first time in a laboratory.

Was the Covid-19 pandemic an act of terrorism?

Is the possibility of designing a virus with the ability to kill many people controlled?

In his laboratory good is done but evil could be done.

"Any of these scientists could be a terrorist."

What relationship does your work have with the terrorism congress to which you have been summoned? There is a relationship.

Viruses are not virulent because they are.

They are because they carry what are called virulence genes.

What are they?

They inhibit host defenses.

So it's very virulent.

We work with dangerous viruses such as Hepatitis C or HIV.

Our work has been to identify virulence genes.

If you identify them, you have the technology to prevent the inhibition of the immune response.

The virus begins to behave like an attenuated virus, that is, like a vaccine candidate.

This laboratory, in the year 2000, was the first to genetically engineer a coronavirus. Can they make coronaviruses like Sars-CoV-2? We can make it chemically.

We can put and remove genes.

Normally what we do is tone it down.

That is, we remove it.

If through genetic engineering procedures we increase the virulence genes or we put them to another virus, we incur the prohibition of developing the gain of function.

How is the virulence of Sars-CoV-2 explained? The S protein of the virus makes it a much more pathogenic virus, capable of producing effects in any of the organs.

The other coronaviruses studied mainly affected the respiratory and enteric tracts.

This can affect fifty different organs. There was always the suspicion that the coronavirus that caused the 2020 pandemic had been generated in a laboratory That it had escaped from the Wuhan laboratory was said from the first moment.

Now we know that it comes from raccoons.

The feces of these animals were analyzed by taking samples from the market cages and it was found that they had a virus identical to the human coronavirus, identical to 99.89%.

Now we know the origin of the virus.

For a terrorist, making a pathogenic virus in a laboratory is relatively easy

What probability is there that Madrid suffers a terrorist biological attack? That is possible.

It happened in World War II.

But it is unlikely.

For a terrorist, making a virus that is pathogenic and producing it in the laboratory is a relatively easy task.

The problem is the spread of the virus.

For a biological weapon to be effective, the virus must be dispersed in a place with many people.

On a soccer field.

or in the subway.

This massive release of virus or modified bacteria is not easy.

By creating a small bomb that delivers the virus via micro-explosion, the heat can kill the agent.

The technologies for the dissemination of dangerous infectious agents are more complex, basically, than genetic engineering.

What biological threats does Spain face? Any emerging virus can threaten any country.

It is easier for the threat to occur in countries where the population, for food reasons, hunts any type of animal.

They enter caves of bats, which are carriers of deadly viruses for man.

They do not usually infect advanced countries because this type of contact does not occur.

It is to be expected that these pandemics and epidemics will be repeated more frequently.

There will be another pandemic absolutely.

Pandemic outbreaks will increase over time.

They do not usually infect advanced countries because this type of contact does not occur.

It is to be expected that these pandemics and epidemics will be repeated more frequently.

There will be another pandemic absolutely.

Pandemic outbreaks will increase over time.

They do not usually infect advanced countries because this type of contact does not occur.

It is to be expected that these pandemics and epidemics will be repeated more frequently.

There will be another pandemic absolutely.

Pandemic outbreaks will increase over time.

A study by the Rockefeller Institute in New York has estimated the presence of 300,000 viruses to be identified.

It is most likely that there will be a pandemic every 10 or 15 years. What stage is the vaccine being developed by your laboratory? Our vaccine has the property of inducing sterilizing immunity.

The immunity it induces, via the intranasal route, eliminates the virus at the point of entry.

It is of interest because it contrasts quite a bit with current vaccines.

They are vaccines that, despite the three doses, allow infection.

Of course you do not suffer a serious pathology and you do not die.

But they must be improved so that they eliminate the virus at the entrance door, as ours seems to do in the experimental model.

Our vaccine is effective against the 2012 Mers coronavirus, which causes mortality in 37% of cases, and we use the same technology for this coronavirus.

We are optimizing its performance and safety. Will it be commercialized soon? We are moving very fast now, because we have passed a gap that has been difficult for us to overcome.

He's delayed our work for at least a year.

We have proven that it works and gives sterilizing protection.

We are increasing security resources to multiply them.

You can not put only one security measure, but three.

Do you have the definitive vaccine in your hands?

The coronavirus infects the respiratory tract.

The technique we use is to present the antigen in that area.

Everyone knows that it is the truly effective one.

The intramuscular route is preferred as a matter of the past.

Before, when there was no current scientific development, medicines could pass into the brain and produce some unwanted side effect.

The US flu vaccine is already administered intranasally. Has it 'beaten' the virus? I think it's happening as we predicted two years ago.

New viruses when they jump species and go from a lower mammal to a person are usually virulent.

They find the human population defenseless against this pathogen.

As time passes, two things happen.

The population is vaccinated and the virus evolves.

It prefers to spread than to kill.

"Vaccines are not perfect but they have saved millions of lives"

Do you understand the distrust towards vaccines? We have to admit that in human nature there is a diversity of opinions and beliefs.

It doesn't just happen in the world of religion.

There are many people who believe in completely different religions and are willing to give their lives.

It also happens in the case of the passion that people have for their football team.

A passion that sometimes is not understood and is not harmless.

Fortunately, there are people, and particularly in Spain, who believe in the efficacy of vaccines.

But there is always a minimum percentage that, due to an irrational belief, have increased and absorbed a series of hoaxes and believe that the vaccine has a chip to control our minds.

It is essential that the media in collaboration with the health and scientific media collaborate to reach people more effectively. What is your opinion of some sudden deaths?

Can they be related to vaccines? Whenever a vaccine has been administered, some deaths occur.

Of every million people vaccinated, two or three or four people suffer thrombi that could even cause death.

It may be happening with certain vaccines but not all.

Hospitals already have the necessary means to avoid it.

.

They have helped save millions of lives.

In some cases they may have caused secondary effects aggravated by some previous pathology that the patient had. Was the management of the coronavirus well acted upon? I think in general yes.

People are super intelligent but in the past.

With what we know now it is very easy to judge certain things that perhaps were not the most suitable.

He acted diligently.

There were some very nasty behavior bugs in the nursing homes.

There were not enough hospital or ICU beds and it was recommended in some places not to transfer older people as if they had less right.

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The Government has done everything possible within the framework of the European Union to get the vaccines quickly. Wasn't he retired? He should be retired.

There was a problem with the coronavirus and our laboratory, which has been working for 35 years, has the levels of knowledge and experience necessary to create a vaccine is quite high.

We thought it appropriate to extend our piece of work to make a contribution.

We have worked and continue to work hard.

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