| 1. |
- Mortazavi, S. A.R., et al.
(författare)
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Can Reactivation of SARS-CoV-2 Decrease the Chance of Success of Future Deep Space Missions?
- 2021
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Ingår i: IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings. - 1095-323X. ; 2021-March
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Korean CDC experts first reported the likelihood of reactivation in COVIOD-19 patients. They hypothesized that like childhood chicken pox infections which lie dormant for tens of years only to cause shingles in seniors, SARS-CoV-2 can reactivate. However, as testing for the virus had been flawed at that time, U.S. infectious disease experts were skeptical about the reports of second COVID-19 infections. New reports have addressed the urgent need to conduct large-scale studies to better understand the potential recurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 patients. Moreover, some case studies show possible reactivation of SARS-CoV-2 in a family cluster. Given this consideration, major space stressors such as microgravity and space radiation and their interactions which are not fully known, so far can increase the risk of reactivation of SARS-CoV-2 in future space missions, an event that can easily impact the success of any space mission. Since about 80% of infected people are either asymptomatic or show only mild symptoms, in a near future, it would be likely that astronauts who start their mission even after complex medical examinations, experience reactivation of the virus during their mission. Moreover, we have previously addressed the potential higher fatality of COVID-19 infections in space due to 1) uselessness of social distancing due to microgravity 2) immune system dysregulation 3) possibly higher mutation rates of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) as a RNA virus 4) higher risk of reactivation of the virus 5) existence of strong selective pressure and 6) decreased maximum oxygen uptake.
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| 2. |
- Mortazavi, S. M. J., et al.
(författare)
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Radioadaptation of Astronauts' Microbiome and Bodies in a Deep Space Mission to Mars and Beyond
- 2020
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Ingår i: 2020 IEEE AEROSPACE CONFERENCE (AEROCONF 2020). - 1095-323X. - 9781728127347
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- During manned space missions, humans will be accompanied by microorganisms. This prompts us to study the characteristics of bacteria grown in space [1]. It has been shown that a pre-exposure to low levels of either ionizing or non-ionizing radiation can make microorganisms more resistant not only to high doses of ionizing radiation but to any factor that threatens their survival (e.g. antibiotics) [2,3]. This phenomenon that is called "adaptive response" (i.e. increased resistance in living organisms pre-exposed to a low level stressor such as a low dose of ionizing radiation) [4] significantly increases the risk of serious infections in deep space missions. It's worth noting that both animal and human data confirm the disruption of the immune system during spaceflight [5]. In addition, the virulence of bacteria can also be increased significantly in space [4], hence this kind of adaptive response which increases the resistance of bacteria can endanger the astronauts' lives in space. On the other hand, A NASA report notes that as astronauts' cells will be exposed to multiple protons before being traversed by HZE particles, they can show adaptive responses. Given this consideration, it would be realistic to expect co-radioadaptation of astronauts' microbiome and their body in a deep space journey to Mars and beyond. The complexity of these phenomena and current uncertainties, which highlight the need for further studies before any long-term manned mission, will be discussed in this paper.
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