Pathology And Social-political-Economic Effects Of Covid-19
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COVID-19 Infectious Disease Research Project
(100 point project)
I. Introduction.
a. Infectious diseases are important in all of our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic, an infectious
disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event. In this
research project you will focus attention on COVID-19, with the goal of enhancing your
knowledge about one particular aspect of the disease. In researching for this project, the
general microbiological concepts discussed throughout the course and encountered as you
proceed through your careers should gain more relevance.
II. Rationale.
a. Upon completion of this project, the successful student will demonstrate:
i. A detailed understanding of one aspect (“subject category”) of COVID-19.
ii. An ability to effectively communicate complex scientific information.
iii. The ability to accurately follow detailed instructions.
iv. Effective personal time management, organization, and study skills.
b. The specific learning objectives involve mastery of concepts presented during the course.
They include demonstration of comprehension about one of the following:
i. The history of our knowledge of COVID-19 and other pathogenic coronaviruses.
ii. The causative agent of COVID-19.
iii. The pathology of COVID-19.
iv. The epidemiology of COVID-19.
v. The human immune response elicited by SARS-CoV-2.
vi. Drug treatments and other medical interventions used to combat SARS-CoV-2, and how
to prevent infection.
vii. Sociological, economical, and political factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
viii. The “misinformation pandemic” surrounding COVID-19.
III. Subject Category Selection.
a. You will select your top two subject categories from the seven listed below.
b. You will perform a search of the literature (books, magazines, news media, scientific journals,
internet, social media, etc) to learn about your specific COVID-19 topic.
IV. Written Report. You will submit a written report that details the information about your chosen
subject category.
a. Report submission. Can be submitted as either a MS Word (.doc or .docx) or a PDF file. Please
do not use any other formats (e.g. Pages, submission via Google Docs, etc).
b. Length. The report must be 4 – 5 single-sided TYPED letter-sized pages (reports outside of
these guidelines will have 5% subtracted). The report should be single-spaced, with 1-inch
margins and 12-point font.
i. NOTE: This 4-5 pages DOES NOT include:
1. Bibliography – this can be as long as required.
2. Figures and/or Tables – included AFTER the text, but before the Bibliography.
c. Report structure. Your report must include the following items, in the following order:
i. COVER SHEET. Must have a title that is related to your subject category, your name,
the date, and the course name (Biology 260, Microbiology).
ii. TEXT. Needs to be structured as follows:
1. An Introduction
2. The main Body, which should be divided up into subsections, as appropriate.
3. A Conclusion
iii. FIGURES AND/OR TABLES, as appropriate.
1. These need to be numbered, and also labelled or have legends explaining what
they show.
iv. BIBLIOGRAPHY (see below for details on requirements, citation style, etc)
1. Use APA citation format. This Class Guide from the library has the required
information: http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/biol260-anitori
d. Sources.
i. Sources you cite in your paper should be scientifically appropriate and reputable. This
applies to ALL of the Subject Categories. However, note that in some cases you may
ALSO need to cite some non-reputable/suspicious sources as part of your topic (e.g.
“Misinformation”, and some of the other topics). This is acceptable as long as it is
relevant to your topic.
ii. Your bibliography is where you will list all of the sources you have cited within the text
of your paper (including the sources of Figures and Tables). Note:
1. This is where I can find the full citation for the things you cite within the text of
your paper.
2. You must use the same citation style for both the in-text citations found within
the body of your paper and for the literature citation page at the end of your
paper.
3. You will require a minimum of 8 sources referenced in your report, at least 4 of
which need to be reputable/reliable sources (that is, that contain information
that is trustworthy and true).
4. You must have a range of sources – that is, you should not simply rely on one or
two sources (e.g. the CDC) for all of your information.
5. Examples of sources (not a comprehensive list):
a. Government information from the USDA, FDA, CDC, WHO, State and
local Health departments, etc.
b. Scientific Journals:
i. Peer reviewed – e.g. Nature, Science, Lancet, Medical journals etc
ii. Preprint servers (not peer-reviewed) – e.g. BioRxiv, where many
COVID-19 research papers are being posted.
c. Popular magazines that are known to be reliable: Scientific American,
National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, etc.
d. Books and textbooks on biology, microbiology, etc.
e. Newspapers.
f. A variety of scientifically reputable television shows from the History
Channel, PBS, etc.
g. Social Media – but be skeptical of anything you read. Also see (IV)(d)(i)
above in “Sources.”
6. Sources to be suspicious of can include the following (not a comprehensive list):
a. Religiously, politically, and privately funded publications and websites.
b. Personal websites.
c. College and university pages that contain student work.
d. Social Media – also see (IV)(d)(i) above in “Sources.”
e. Wikipedia – you may look here to get ideas of where to find primary
sources of reputable information, but Wikipedia should not be used as a
cited primary source unless it’s appropriate to your research topic.
Always check the information on Wikipedia before using it. Also see
(IV)(d)(i) above in “Sources.”
7. The following websites will help:
a. http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/how-to-read-peer-reviewed
b. http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/fake-news
c. http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/evaluating-information
d. https://callingbullshit.org/index.html
iii. BIBLIOGRAPHY. A list of all sources cited within the text of your paper (including
sources of Figures and Tables).
1. This is where I can find the full citation for the things you cite within the text of
your paper.
2. You must use the same citation style for both the in-text citations found within
the body of your paper and for the literature citation page at the end of your
paper.
3. You will require a minimum of 8 sources referenced in your report, at least 4 of
which need to be reputable/reliable sources (that is, that contain information
that is trustworthy and true).
4. You must have a range of sources – that is, you should not simply rely on one or
two sources (e.g. the CDC) for all of your information
e. PLAGIARISM
i. The text should be written in your own words. Use direct quotes only when absolutely
necessary (which means rarely). Any information that is either directly quoted or
paraphrased or taken from a source (so, anything that is NOT common knowledge)
must be credited to the proper source within the body of the text immediately (not at
the end of the paragraph). See the following for more info on “Common Knowledge”:
http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/tutorials-home/avoid-plagiarism
ii. You must write your report on your own, and NOT TOGETHER WITH FELLOW
STUDENTS or anyone else.
iii. Reports with be screened with commercial plagiarism review software.
iv. ANY level of plagiarism will result in a score of zero on the paper.
PRO TIP for avoiding “silly point losses” – PROOFREAD YOUR PAPER BEFORE SUBMITTING IT!
See https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/proofreading
V. Subject Categories.
The prompts found WITHIN each of the following categories are for getting you started on your
research and providing help with the areas you should be focusing your research on. You are
encouraged to include additional information that fits within your subject category. Note that
doing the bare minimum will NOT get you an A on this project; the more effort you put forth, the
better the grade…
1. CAUSATIVE AGENT (including genetics/structure/mutation etc)
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
a. What is the viral causative agent of the disease?
b. What are the characteristics of the virus? (DNA virus, positive-strand RNA virus, negativestrand RNA virus, or retrovirus? Enveloped or naked? How large is it? Provirus
formation? Are there any unique characteristics of its multiplication cycle? Viral structure?
Anything else that is relevant).
c. Survivability of virus on surfaces.
d. The genetics of the virus (e.g. genes? different strains? is it mutating and getting more or
less virulent?)
2. HISTORY of COVID-19 and related coronavirus diseases (e.g. SARS, MERS, and harmless
coronaviruses)
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
a. Origin of the viruses
b. History of any diseases caused by these viruses
c. How long have we known about these diseases? Historically, how were these diseases
treated? What is the history of vaccine development?
d. Describe the changes in our knowledge and attitudes toward these diseases throughout
history.
3. EPIDEMIOLOGY: reservoir, transmission, statistics (infection rates, geographic distribution,
morbidity and mortality rates, R0 number, etc)
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
a. Describe the prevalence and transmission of this disease.
b. What is (are) the reservoir(s) of the pathogen?
c. What is (are) the mode(s) of transmission?
d. Where (in the world) is the disease prevalent? How many people are currently
infected? What is the rate of new infections? What are the rates of morbidity and
mortality?
e. Survivability of virus on surfaces etc
f. Predisposing factors for infection.
g. How long the coronavirus lasts on surfaces after contamination
h. Does Covid-19 thrive in different areas of the world based on environmental factors?
i. Is Covid-19 seasonal?
j. Impact of COVID on different groups (age, location, etc.)
k. What infection control measures are required?
4. PATHOLOGY (how the virus causes damage to cells, organs etc)
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
a. Signs/Symptoms
b. What are the major signs and symptoms?
c. What tissues/organs/cells does the pathogen affect?
d. Describe the pathogenic effects on cells, tissues, and organ systems.
e. What damage does the pathogen inflict? How is this damage inflicted? (Is there direct
mechanical damage? Is a toxin produced? Does the immune response itself cause
damage?
f. What is the time sequence of the disease (length of incubation, prodrome, illness,
decline, and convalescence)?
g. Prognosis/Progression of the disease
5. IMMUNE RESPONSE TO THE VIRUS AND TREATMENT AND PREVENTION
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
a. Treatment and Prevention (including vaccine development)
b. What infection control measures are required?
c. At what stages of infection are you still infectious (that is, able to pass on the virus to
others)?
d. Describe the activity of our immune system against the pathogen.
e. Does infection with the virus provide protective immunity (that is, are you protected
against reinfection?)
f. What form does any immunity take – is it Innate immunity? Acquired immunity?
g. Humoral immunity? Cell-mediated immunity? A combination of these?
h. How is the disease diagnosed? What types of medical treatments exist or are in
development? Describe how these treatments affect the progression of the disease.
i. Describe prophylactic (preventative) measures that can be taken to limit the risk of
infection.
j. Could the treatment for acute-altitude sickness, or other already existing treatments or
drugs, be used to help alleviate symptoms or treat COVID-19?
• To help you understand some basics about the immune system, try this link:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000821.htm
6. SOCIAL–POLITICAL–ECONOMIC EFFECTS (you can expand on this with your own specific idea if you
wish).
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
** NOTE – compared to the other categories, this subject is more amenable to you
expressing your opinion. However, note that you still need to also use citable,
factual information. In other words, it should not just be an “opinion piece.” **
a. Effect on health care systems
b. Effect on society – e.g. health workers? other workers? Everyday life?
c. Effect on the economy – jobs? families? etc etc
d. Effect on politics – different approaches in different countries? Helping or hurting our
elected bodies? etc etc
e. Effect on the environment – pollution? climate change? etc etc
f. Psychological impacts of COVID (e.g. on adults, parents, children)
g. Describe any historic or present-day social, economic, or political issues that either help
or hinder us in limiting the spread of the disease.
h. Suggest policies and practices that can be employed to help with limiting the spread of
the disease. For each policy and practice, describe what will be needed (what we have
to sacrifice) in order to properly implement the proposal.
7. MISINFORMATION
Prompts (please do not limit yourself to these if other subtopics are relevant):
** NOTE – compared to the other categories, this subject is more amenable to you
expressing your opinion. However, note that you still need to also use citable,
factual information. In other words, it should not just be an “opinion piece.” **
a. The misinformation pandemic (the “infodemic” – “We’re not just fighting an epidemic;
we’re fighting an infodemic,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General
of the World Health Organisation.)
b. Examples of blatant misinformation (and not just from unreliable sources, but
government and other officials)?
c. Examples of more subtle misinformation?
d. Misinterpretation of reliable information?
e. etc
f. This site may be worth looking at – https://callingbullshit.org/index.html. A class at UW
run by Profs Bergstrom and West.
The 2 categories I chose to work on for the research paper are topic number 4 and 6
4) pathology
6) social-political-economic effects
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