In the face of the new coronavirus epidemic, many car companies, including Volvo, have taken action to contribute their part to the fight against the virus. On January 31, Volvo Cars (Asia Pacific) Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. announced a donation of 11 million yuan for epidemic prevention and control, of which 10 million yuan was used to purchase emergency medical supplies and equipment. The other first batch of 1 million donations will be directed to support Shanghai Municipal Government. According to the latest information we have received, special funds of 1 million yuan have been allocated to the *** Health Clinical Center for new coronavirus pathogenesis, clinical treatment research, vaccine research and development, and related drug development.
At the same time, Volvo Cars also conducted face-to-face interviews with experts from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center on issues that people are concerned about, such as vaccine and drug development and personal protection for the new coronavirus.
First, let’s take a look at the suggestions given by two experts on our daily personal protection!
?
Q&A: Can you introduce the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center?
Professor Zhu:
Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center has the world's top virology, bacteriology and immunology research teams and complete clinical treatment capabilities. The WHO is the only research, teaching and training institution for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and has played an important role in the fight against previous epidemics caused by SARS, H7N9, Ebola, Zika, etc. The public health center also has world-class large-scale negative pressure ward conditions to ensure biosafety and zero nosocomial infection.
Q&A: What role does the Public Health Center play in the fight against the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic?
Professor Zhu:
The Public Health Center is the only hospital in Shanghai that treats adults infected with pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. It is also responsible for the clinical transformation of scientific research and vaccine development against the new coronavirus. Waiting for work.
In the process of fighting the epidemic, the Public Health Center was the first professional infectious disease treatment institution in the world to analyze the full genetic sequence of the new virus and announce it to the world, buying time for the world to diagnose the new coronavirus pneumonia. .
Q&A: What role will Volvo Cars’ donation to the Public Health Center play?
Professor Zhu:
We have recently received support and help from all walks of life across the country. Volvo Cars is particularly unique among them. It not only donated medical equipment urgently needed for clinical frontline and scientific research, but also provided targeted funds to support our scientific research work.
To defeat the new coronavirus pneumonia, the key is scientific research. The targeted funds provided by Volvo Cars will be mainly used for research on pathogenesis, vaccine research and drug research. In these three aspects, the public health center is already at the top level in the world.
Research on the pathogenesis is mainly for the traceability and purification of the virus, because we must find where the virus comes from before we can solve this problem in the future. Research on drugs and vaccines is also for effective treatment and prevention. These three points are the key points that the public needs to understand in fighting the epidemic. ?
Protecting life and health and saving lives and healing the wounded are the top priority for medical institutions. Volvo Cars are also world-famous for safety and health. On this point, Volvo Cars and our philosophy are completely consistent. We are very grateful to Volvo Cars for being proactive and helping us address the root causes of the novel coronavirus more quickly. Because every second counts in fighting the epidemic, the amount of funds required to develop a vaccine is also huge. On the basis of government support, funds from corporate and social donations can be quickly received, which also adds weight to us to win the battle against the epidemic as soon as possible.
Q&A: What are the latest developments in the development of new coronavirus vaccines by the Public Health Center? How unique is it?
Professor Xu:
For the new coronavirus, the Public Health Center has many years of research and development experience and multiple technical reserves. The two vaccines designed by the Public Health Center team are progressing in an orderly manner.
Among them, the "rapid anti-coronavirus vaccine" is about to be released. This vaccine uses human cells as the vaccine carrier and carries the virus S protein instead of the new coronavirus itself as the vaccine. It is fast, safe and efficient. Using human cells as vaccine carriers, the Public Health Center is currently the only team using this technology globally.
The second is the "broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus vaccine." The Public Health Center has also initiated research. If we are to completely defeat the coronavirus, the most important thing is to develop a broad-spectrum vaccine. This vaccine is expected to prevent SARS, MERS, 2019-nCoV and cross-species transmission of coronaviruses from bats at the same time. This means that if some new coronavirus spreads to people in the future, we can also control it.
Q&A: What is the cycle from vaccine development to market application? In the current epidemic situation, can the public hope to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus as soon as possible?
Professor Xu:
In fact, the entire upstream research and development of the vaccine can be completed in about one to one and a half months. But if a traditional vaccine is to be put on the market, it will take 4-5 years. Inactivated vaccines can be completed faster, in three to six months.
Now with innovative technology, the time for vaccine development can be shortened. Of course, we are also currently waiting to see whether the country will open a green channel to push the newly developed vaccine into clinical practice as soon as possible, but this is a matter of another time.
Q&A: Are there any specific drugs against the new coronavirus? How do the drugs used in clinical diagnosis and treatment work?
Professor Xu:
At present, the medical community is still exploring specific drugs for the new coronavirus, and is not yet so fast in developing directly targeted drugs. Since the new coronavirus is an RNA virus, there are several key links in the replication cycle. For example, nucleotides are needed to synthesize the RNA genome. Several drugs are used for clinical diagnosis and treatment, mainly nucleoside inhibitors and protease inhibitors. , interferon inhibitors, broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and drugs that inhibit inflammation, etc.
The Public Health Center began to develop a broad-spectrum antiviral spray when the H7N9 epidemic broke out in 2014. It has resistance to different viruses that cause respiratory infections. In the process of fighting the epidemic, this drug has entered the mid-stream and downstream production processes, and has been quickly put into emergency occupational protection of front-line medical staff.
Q&A: Major cities across the country are about to usher in the peak return journey. What suggestions do you have for personal virus protection going forward?
Professor Zhu:
The main thing is to take personal protection, wash hands frequently and wear a mask. According to the latest research, door handles, elevator buttons, desktops and other places that people easily touch on a daily basis may cause the spread of the virus. As long as everyone takes precautions, the spread of the virus will be blocked, and the epidemic will slowly subside.
As the world's first luxury car brand to advocate the concept of health, Volvo Cars has always been people-centered and actively paid attention to innovative technologies that change the course of human life. Thanks to active and in-depth exchanges and cooperation with various disciplines, Volvo Cars continues to launch original innovations in the field of health.