Interview ｜ Hong Kong University Pan Liewen ’s team of new virus reagents share with more than 70 countries to lock infected people

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Written by: Chen Qianting

2020-05-22 08:00

At the time when the new coronavirus pneumonia was not named, and was still collectively referred to as "Wuhan Unknown Pneumonia", the team of the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine was ready to fight. By January 10th, researchers in the Mainland disclosed the first viral gene Atlas, the team spent 6 days to complete the development of rapid test reagents for new viruses to find out the diagnosed patients.

"The department is breaking records." Pan Liewen, director of the scientific branch of the school's public health laboratory, said in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" that the team has learned the experience of SARS, mastered more advanced technology and knowledge, and developed rapid tests. The speed is several times faster than it took the past two months. The team also spared no effort to share the reagents and test methods free of charge to other countries. So far, more than 70 countries have benefited. Among them, Sri Lanka and Egypt used HKU reagents to find the first local diagnosed patient. Pan Liewen said indifferently, "If there is a country that needs help, it's an issue." This international crisis can only be dealt with by selfless mutual assistance.

(Anti-epidemic series reports)

Pan Liewen and his team spent 6 days developing a rapid test method after the viral gene map was published. (Photographed by O'Gallery)

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When the SARS raged 17 years ago, Pan Liewen was the first person to crack the atypical pneumonia virus gene sequence. When there was a new unknown pneumonia, Pan and his team immediately set about preparing. Pan Liewen recalled that the initial information was that the patients were all related to the South China seafood market in Wuhan. He suspected that the virus was passed from animal to person, and no one was spreading from person to person. Therefore, he was still optimistic at first. Will fall one after another.

However, what happened was contrary to expectations. Afterwards, the mainland notified someone that there were signs of passing on. Pan Liewen was worried that the SARS would come again: "It was estimated that there would be a domestic outbreak, and there may be outbreaks in Hong Kong, but it has not been a pandemic."

SARS spent two months to research reagents for new coronary pneumonia in only 6 days 

In 2003, at the time of SARS, Hong Kong had confirmed patients since February. One month later, it was learned that the pathogen was a coronavirus. Near the end of March, the HKU team developed a rapid test reagent for the virus. The entire process took nearly two months. After 17 years, Pan Liewen and his team completed the research and development of the reagents within six days after the researchers uploaded the viral gene map, and the World Health Organization announced the rapid test method one week later.

The first person to publish a genetic map is so selfless

"Everyone knows that it's really dangerous. The first person who released the (gene map) is so selfless." Pan Liewen described this as an international crisis, but the advanced technology has made everyone respond faster and have past experience. The team is known The characteristics of coronavirus also have better technology and knowledge than in those years, which helps speed up research.

Interview | Pan Liewen, an expert in experimental virology of "sticking to the ground" in the ivory tower: to solve the problem

The use of mat resources as reagents benefits other countries, since not every place has this resource. Pan Liewen described the early stage of the epidemic as "yes (reagent) is not far away from no system". (Photographed by O'Gallery)

WHO dispatched personnel to Hong Kong to urgently collect reagents and meet at the airport for settlement

After research and development of reagents, HKU provided test methods and about 200 reagents to countries in need. So far, more than 70 countries have benefited. Among them, Sri Lanka and Egypt have tested the first local diagnoses with HKU reagents. Pan Liewen described the urgent time for the delivery of reagents. The WHO African branch sent staff to Hong Kong to collect the reagents, but the time was too tight to get out of the urban area of ​​Hong Kong from the Chek Lap Kok Airport. Pan needed to meet them at the airport on the spot. Settlement and explain the test method before sending them out.

Pan Liewen bluntly said that at this stage 200 reagents have been used up in an instant, but in the early stage of the outbreak, "there is no difference between the same and the same system." The University of Hong Kong needs to reserve resources for reagents. The School of Public Health also needs to suspend all other research projects, but Pan only Hope to help other countries find the first patient through reagents, so that the epidemic can be more easily controlled: "If you can prepare, you can prepare, if there is a country that needs our help, we can help."

If you can prepare, you can prepare. If a country needs our help, you can.

Focus on test accuracy Pan Liewen: 50% quasi you are better than throwing silver

Recently, there were papaya samples in Tanzania that were positive for the new coronavirus test. Pan said that he did not know the test method. It is estimated that there are false positives, or that some of the plant's proteins are similar to the coronavirus proteins. These cases reflect the importance of accurate detection.

Some people sold home antibody rapid test kits. The Center for Health Protection urged the public not to test antibodies on their own. Pan Liewen believes that there are two major conditions that must be met before testing. One is that the research and development of the test must be done well. He bluntly said that if the test is only 50 % Accuracy, "You might as well throw Yinzi!" Pan Liewen also emphasized that the user must clearly know the purpose of the test before sampling. Because the diagnosed person needs time to produce antibodies after being infected, even if the test result is negative, it does not mean that the tester is free from infection, no virus in the body, or no infectivity.

Pan Zhiyan said that merchants only focus on selling reagents, and may not clearly explain the use, but he also believes that these tests should not be banned. From the perspective of public health, various tests have different uses, such as extremely accurate but expensive tests. It may not be suitable for large-scale use. If a study wants to know the infection rate of a certain community in the past few months, a cheaper reagent will be better. If the study requires citizens to take samples for testing, simple tests should be used.

▼ Half-year review of epidemic outbreak

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Case Zero doubts to be answered by mainland researchers

Nearly half a year after the outbreak of the epidemic, Pan Liewen directly acknowledged that there is still not much knowledge about the new virus. I temporarily learned that compared with SARS patients, the amount of virus in the early stage of the disease is already very high, that is, it can be passed on to others in a short time. Many people expect to trace the source of the virus. Pan Liewen pointed out that the latest statement is that there have been new cases of pneumonia as early as mid-December last year. Even with the existing high-throughput sequencing technology, the original virus sample still needs to be obtained. Since the virus appeared, but there is no relevant data in Hong Kong, the suspect can only be left to the national scientific researchers to answer.

Can't expect the new crown virus such as SARS to disappear naturally

As for the future development, Pan Liewen believes that the virus has spread to all continents in the world. I cannot optimistically expect that the new coronavirus, like SARS, will naturally disappear without a vaccine. It is expected that the virus will coexist with humans for some time unless there is a vaccine or corresponding Drugs, but Pan revealed that he did not participate in vaccine research, and smiled and said, "It is best to have someone say" I'm doing (research) well, don't make me do it "". Coronavirus has only had experimental vaccines in the past. It has not been developed before injection into humans. Vaccine research is difficult to take in one step. It is also unknown whether the vaccine has side effects on humans. If a team successfully develops vaccines, he still needs to wait and see to be observed)".

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