2020_03_05_CIE_articulo_goni_coronavirus
"Ten good news about the coronavirus, by microbiologist Ignacio López-Goñi, exceeds 2,000,000 readers.
The University of Navarra professor's article is the most visited in the history of The Conversation platform.
PHOTO: Manuel Castells
A article by microbiologist Ignacio López-Goñi, graduate "Ten good news about the coronavirus", has exceeded 2,000,000 readers in just three days. The professor at the University of Navarra published the text in The Conversation Spain, a platform for the dissemination of opinion articles signed by academics and scientists, which are made available to the media, with the goal to reach the whole of society.
It is a article which states that although the topic of the coronavirus "is very serious", and it is necessary to report what is happening, "we also need good news". Thus, it lists ten of them, among which are that "we know what the virus is and how to detect it, people are also cured and 80% of the cases are mild".
He also emphasizes all the research that has been carried out in just two months on this new virus: "There are already more than 250 scientific articles; they are preliminary works on vaccines, treatments, epidemiology, Genetics and phylogeny, diagnosis, clinical aspects. And although there are still no specific vaccines or antivirals, there are already eight proposed prototypes and more than 80 clinical trials under way with antiviral substances that are being tested". According to this expert, "now is the time for science and cooperation; never before have we been better prepared to combat an epidemic".
The article "Ten good news stories about the coronavirus" is the most visited in the history of The Conversation and has already been published in more than 25 media partners, including BBC News' portal , and has been translated into English and French on other country versions of The Conversation platform.
Ignacio López-Goñi holds a PhD in Biology and Full Professor in Microbiology and teaches Microbiology and Virology at School of Sciences. His research focuses on the study of bacterial virulence, the development of new vaccines and diagnostic methods for infectious diseases. He combines his teaching and research tasks with the scientific knowledge dissemination through social networks and blogs. His Twitter account(@microbioblog) already has more than 41,000 followers and the microBIO blog has been rated as one of the 25 best virology blogs in the world.
As a result of this article and other publications, Professor Ignacio López-Goñi is appearing in numerous media.