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发帖数: 4825 | 1 https://www.rt.com/op-ed/494025-covid-19-not-chinese-theory/
Plot twist! The coronavirus is NOT CHINESE, says famed British
epidemiologist… but his reputation precedes him
7 Jul, 2020
By Peter Andrews, Irish science journalist and writer based in London. He
has a background in the life sciences, and graduated from the University of
Glasgow with a degree in genetics.
One of the world’s leading epidemiologists thinks the coronavirus may not
actually have originated in China, with samples of Covid-19 surfacing from
Spain in early 2019. The coronavirus story keeps getting stranger…
Dr Tom Jefferson is a British epidemiologist working for the Cochrane
Collaboration's acute respiratory infections group. He also works at the
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford University. In an
interview with the Telegraph that is already sending shockwaves through the
scientific community, he has promoted an alternative view of the coronavirus
’ origins. Jefferson believes that the virus lay dormant, possibly for
years, before bursting into action late last year.
He points to a growing body of evidence involving traces of coronavirus
turning up in sewage samples, from Europe to South America. The amazing
thing about these samples is that they appear to pre-date the first
instances of Covid-19 in Wuhan, the Chinese city of its purported origin.
An Italian study found traces of Covid-19 in sewage samples in Turin in
December of last year. A similar study from Brazil also found samples dating
back to November. And one study, yet to undergo peer review, found the
virus in Barcelona on the March 12, 2019. Could the astonishing truth of
Covid-19 be that it is not Chinese at all, but rather a second Spanish flu?
Of course, the Spanish flu of 1918 may not have been Spanish at all –
America and China are also cited as possible origins. And Jefferson seems to
hold some unusual ideas about that pandemic, which was much worse than the
present one. Is he right? For now, it is too early to tell. But perhaps
looking into Jefferson’s track record may shed some light on these exciting
developments.
Not his first rodeo
Jefferson is no stranger to controversy: he is one of the foremost
dissenters from the scientific mainstream on the subject of flu vaccines.
Jefferson believes that the data used in many major clinical trials for such
vaccines is dubious. For this, he has been ostracised by many quarters of
academia.
A 2009 article in the Atlantic called Jefferson “The most vocal – and
undoubtedly most vexing – critic of the gospel of flu vaccine.” At
scientific conferences, the other scientists do not sit with him at lunch,
forcing him to eat alone – an act too juvenile for any place but a primary
school or a university campus.
Interestingly, many of the opinions which Jefferson holds on flu research,
which have made him a pariah, have also been expressed by some concerned
with the much newer research on SARS-CoV-2. For instance, he questions
whether deaths supposedly caused by flu are really always justified: “When
an old person dies of respiratory failure after an influenza-like illness,
they nearly always get coded as influenza.”
Moreover, he questions the use in administering flu vaccines to young,
healthy people, who practically never die of flu. So is Jefferson a crackpot
who other scientists are right to shun? Or an outspoken genius who has
unearthed a radical piece of the coronavirus puzzle?
One thing is certain: Dr Jefferson thinks for himself, and does not simply
parrot what the scientific establishment or the wider media deem are
acceptable opinions. Being a scientist is all about asking questions, taking
nothing for granted and challenging conventional wisdom relentlessly and
without qualm. All of these principles serve to strengthen science, not
weaken it, as many tenured academics who have forgotten their basic
responsibilities seem to think.
I would certainly be interested in hearing more of his opinions… especially
as the efforts to create a vaccine for Covid-19 come closer to fruition. |
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