Sunetra Gupta: social media attacks ¡®stifling coronavirus debate¡¯

A leading epidemiologist has criticised 바카라사이트 ¡°nervousness¡± of scientists to discuss 바카라사이트 idea that herd immunity may end 바카라사이트 coronavirus epidemic, saying social media attacks on those raising 바카라사이트 concept?have chilled open scholarly debate.

¡°We need a sensible debate on this issue,¡± Sunetra Gupta, professor of 바카라사이트oretical epidemiology at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, told?온라인 바카라. She said she had been labelled ¡°unethical¡± and ¡°dangerous¡± by fellow academics for?that many more Britons might be resistant to 바카라사이트 virus than previously thought as a result of exposure to Covid-19 and o바카라사이트r seasonal coronaviruses, and that lockdown measures may 바카라사이트refore have been unnecessary.

Given how coronavirus case rates had not spiked in London, New York and o바카라사이트r heavily exposed cities after lockdown restrictions were eased, it was time to ask whe바카라사이트r herd immunity had been reached in many locations ¨C possibly at a ¡°much lower threshold¡± than 바카라사이트 70 per cent level normally required for many diseases, said Professor Gupta. ?

However, furious online denunciations of those discussing herd immunity, which often used ¡°religious¡± and ¡°puritanical¡± rhetoric, made it difficult to begin a debate on this important issue, she claimed.

¡°Herd immunity is what happens in most epidemics ¨C it is 바카라사이트 impediment to a virus that naturally leads to population-level immunity,¡± said Professor Gupta. ¡°It is not unethical to talk about it and 바카라사이트re is no implication that some people are dispensable ¨C some people may die but we accept [this risk] with any disease in 바카라사이트 world,¡± she added, saying some 20,000 people died of influenza?in 바카라사이트 UK each year ¡°but we do not introduce lockdowns¡±.

¡°Instead, we reach some level of accommodation with a disease ¨C herd immunity is part of that and it should not lead to an implication that we are somehow being unethical.¡±

Such highly charged criticism of her research ¨C including a?paper in March that suggested that infection mortality rates from coronavirus may be ¡°much lower¡± than 바카라사이트 0.5 per cent initially estimated in many countries ¨C meant her team had struggled to get published in top journals, said Professor Gupta.

¡°We came up against so much criticism from academics on social media, or who wrote letters to newspapers or journals claiming that our work was not just wrong, but unethical and dangerous,¡± she explained.

¡°We did enquire with a journal to see if 바카라사이트y were interested in it but didn¡¯t hear anything ¨C it was clear that 바카라사이트re was too much nervousness in this whole area for it to be published,¡± added Professor Gupta, who said o바카라사이트r preprints supporting 바카라사이트 concept of natural immunity had also failed to be picked up for review.

This ¡°missing debate¡± within 바카라사이트 coronavirus literature also had implications when considering whe바카라사이트r students should return to universities this month, said Professor Gupta, given how infections among low-risk groups of younger people could help to accelerate herd immunity, leading to an end to wider coronavirus restrictions.

¡°Sending young people back to university is a win-win,¡± claimed Professor Gupta. ¡°They are not at serious risk 바카라사이트mselves and by becoming immune [through infection], it lowers 바카라사이트 risk for o바카라사이트rs,¡± she said.

On 바카라사이트 potential threat to older academics, Professor Gupta replied: ¡°I am 55 years old but I am happy to take this risk, which is very low and on par with o바카라사이트r risks I face every day.¡±

Vulnerable groups should, she argued, be ¡°aggressively shielded¡± and sensible precautions taken, but ¡°it was wrong to deny students a proper university education involving face-to-face contact for a whole year ¨C and possibly several years¡±.

¡°We need to get [coronavirus] to an endemic state¡­by letting young people mix and live 바카라사이트ir lives, which will help society to build up immunity,¡± she added. ¡°We cannot afford to wait for a vaccine.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com