L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano O n e t h i n g I t a - l i a n s h a v e b e e n r e m i n - ded of during these first 20 d a y s o f c o r o n a v i r u s emergency is the quality a n d r e s i l i e n c e o f t h e i r healthcare system. Allow me to start this article with a n e n o r m o u s , h e a r t f e l t "thanks, guys" to all the nur- s e s , d o c t o r s a n d o t h e r healthcare practitioners who are on the frontline battling il virus: they are amazing, they are strong, they need our support and all of our respect. If you have a friend or a relative in the healthca- r e p r o f e s s i o n s , j u s t t e l l them you love them, today. It isn't only the Italian h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m t h a t deserves our praise and sup- port, though, but the world of scientific research, too, both in name of the new pharmacological ave- nues followed to care for covid-19 patients and of the h u g e e f f o r t i t h a s b e e n making to understand its behavior better. Because it was only passed to humans around 5 months ago, the scientific world still has very l i t t l e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t covid-19, especially when it comes to how long the infec- tion could last in time or i m m u n i t y , a n d I t a l y h a s begun working on epidemio- logical projects to help the world knowing more. V o ' E u g a n e o , i n t h e Padova province of Veneto, w a s o n e o f t h e f i r s t t w o c o v i d - 1 9 c l u s t e r s i n Northern Italy and, sadly, also the hometown of the virus' first victim, Adriano Trevisan. The entire villa- ge of 3.300 was quarantined for two weeks, while the rest of the country still wasn't, making of it an excellent ground for scientific resear- ch. Shortly before the end of the initial quarantine (Vo' is now, of course, on a lock- down as the rest of Italy), the University of Padova, w i t h t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e R e g i o n e V e n e t o a n d t h e Italian Red Cross, went on t o t e s t a g a i n t h e e n t i r e population of the village, which had already been lar- gely tested at the beginning of the outbreak, in a bid to study the evolution of the n o v e l c o r o n a v i r u s . T h e study is the first of its kind, says Nicola Rogero of local d a i l y I l M a t t i n o d i P a d o v a , a s n o o n e h a d thought to administer the test to the same sample at two different moments in time. Thanks to this, new, essential information on the virus' behavior will emerge, including the infection and mortality rate, the rate of s y m p t o m a t i c a n d n o n - symptomatic patients, its r e g r e s s i o n c u r v e a n d i t s a c t u a l d u r a t i o n . T h e University of Padova highli- g h t e d t h e i r r e s e a r c h w i l l also provide relevant infor- mation about the natural history of the virus, its tran- smission dynamics and a more in-depth understan- ding of at risk categories. But the fight of Italian scientists against the coro- navirus goes on also outside the boundaries of Italy, as in the case of virologist Ilaria Capua, departmental direc- t o r o f t h e E m e r g i n g Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Capua h a s b e e n a w e l c o m e a n d pleasant fixture on Italian tv screens in the recent weeks, a l w a y s d e l i v e r i n g c l e a r , scientific information and advice to the general public. S h e r e c e n t l y t a l k e d w i t h I l a r i a U l i v e l l i o f L a Nazione, Florence's daily, and discussed a series of i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t s o f t h e Covid-19 infection. Talking about the current lockdown in Italy and of its essentia- lity, she says: "it's like a tor- nado arrived all of a sudden, but we can come out of this, if we do it together. Social distancing (quarantine) will help us protect people more at risk and avoid they get infected." Capua also weighed in on the real reason the number of infections in Italy, espe- cially in the first two regions being hit, Lombardia and Veneto, has been so high: "Lombardia and Veneto's h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m s a r e extremely efficient: they had patients with suspect symp- t o m s , t h e y t e s t e d t h e m . They looked for the virus a n d t h e y f o u n d i t , " s h e declares. But one of the most i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g s s h e discussed in her interview w i t h U l i v e l l i i s t h e i d e a , unfortunate but common at the moment, that Italy is the West's great spreader: "the problem will soon disappear, b e c a u s e i t ' s j u s t n o t t r u e (that Italy brought the virus to the West). Our politicians s h o u l d r e a l l y u n d e r s t a n d this stigma — which Italy risks to drag along with her for a long time — actually doesn't exist, but they also need to understand we have to reveal to the international scientific community all the sequencing of the virus we discovered. We can't keep relevant information like that just for ourselves if we w a n t t o g e t r i d o f t h e ' s p r e a d e r ' r e p u t a t i o n . " A c c o r d i n g t o C a p u a , sequencing is like the ID c a r d o f a v i r u s a n d h e l p s study its behaviour. That's why it would be crucial for all the scientific world to col- laborate and share this type of information. In spite of being in the eye of the storm, Italy hangs in there with pride and resi- lience, news of our doctors and scientists doing an ama- zing job — and being prai- s e d a r o u n d t h e w o r l d — giving us hope. Dr Capua said something incredibly important in her interview, when she mentioned how scientific research, one of our excellencies, can help s h a k e o f f t h e " s p r e a d e r " stigma from our shoulders. She is right, and it shouldn't be true only for our scientific research, but for everything our country is known for: the arts, food, technology, pharmaceuticals, you name it. Our excellencies are our protection from stigma and we have a duty, as Italians, to support and protect them from damage, to make them even more popular, more coveted. So, when you go to the s u p e r m a r k e t , t o m o r r o w , make sure your olive oil is made in Italy, even if it's a bit more expensive, and do wear your Italian pride on your sleeve: we need to show the world we are united, that w e a r e , i n d e e d , a g r e a t nation, especially when har- shness comes. Italian science against the coronavirus: it's a battle we'll win! CHIARA D'ALESSIO Ilaria Capua, Italian virologist at the Emerging Pathogens Institute of the University of Florida (Photo: Wikimedia) LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD ARTS ADVICE

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