Proteomic Analysis of COVID-19 Infection

There are things that I remember that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up being major events. As a young boy growing up in Canada, I remember listening to a radio broadcast about a young man who was planning to run across the country to raise money for cancer research. I recollect obscure details such as him filling a bottle with water taken from the Atlantic Ocean. The broadcast received little fanfare, and honestly, I cannot remember the date. I was listening to it only because I was waiting for the broadcast of a hockey game to begin. Attention to this endeavor grew over the next weeks and months as the young man, Terry Fox, ran across Canada. Terry captivated the entire nation and was able to raise $1.7 million dollars until his journey ended on September 2, 1980, after 3339 miles near Thunder Bay, Ontario ( https://www.tfri.ca/about/terry-fox ). A nationally televised telethon was held a week after his run ended, which raised $10.5 million. Over the next several months over $23 million was raised. His fame was such that letters simply addressed "Terry Fox" were successfully delivered to a specific location. Although Terry passed away on June 28, 1981, his legacy continued. He was the youngest person ever to receive the Order of Canada. A total of 32 roads and streets, 14 schools, the Terry Fox Research Institute, and countless athletic venues are all named in honor of this courageous young man ( https://www.twinkl.com/search?q=terry+fox&c=226&r=teacher&fl=12&fco=4213 ). The Terry Fox Run is still held in communities across Canada every year to raise money for cancer research. Almost 20 years after his run, a national survey named him as the second greatest Canadian of all time ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Canadian ).Why do I bring up this story? It reminded me of the beginnings of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. I can remember early in 2020 hearing news stories about a virus spreading throughout Wuhan, China. I must admit I was not concerned by the report and, having lived through other warnings such as bird and swine flu, did not consider this virus as a global threat. Wow, I was wrong! Within a few days the first confirmed case was reported in Washington state, and the entire city of Wuhan (population 11 million) was placed on lockdown ( https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html ). Owing to its genetic similarity to the virus responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003, this novel coronavirus was called SARS-CoV-2 (Coronaviridae Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, Nat Microbiol 5:536-544, 2020). By mid-February 2020, over 1000 people had died because of SARS-CoV-2 infection. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic ( https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html ). By the end of March, Drs. Deborah Brix and Anthony Fauci predicted that up to 200,000 Americans would die from COVID-19 even if precautions (social distancing, mask wearing, etc.) were taken ( https://theweek.com/speedreads/905623/dr-birx-faces-200000-coronavirus-deaths-even-everything-almost-perfectly ). As of April 2024, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 were approximately 1.2 and 7.0 million within the USA and worldwide, respectively ( https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/ ). After more than 3 years, COVID-19 was no longer considered a public health emergency of international concern. While this declaration means the pandemic is over, COVID-19 remains a disease that will be part of the world community for years to come.