Zanki zero last beginning review: Review: Zanki Zero: Last Beginning – Destructoid — Mitspielen — Vampire Live in München

Review: Zanki Zero: Last Beginning – Destructoid

“What will you do after the end of the world?”

This might be the most answered question in contemporary game history, so rife is the medium with stories set after the collapse of civilization as we know it. Beyond being a convenient escape hatch from the strictures of law and norm that govern human society, the post-apocalypse can be a space to ask and answer questions whose answers would be unneeded or obvious in any other situation.

It’s into this rather crowded niche that Danganronpa alums Yoshinori Terasawa and Takayuki Sugawara launch their latest effort: Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, a survival-themed adventure set just beyond the end. Their answer to the above question?

“Get to the bottom of this, dying a lot along the way, and dragging all our baggage with us.”

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning (PS4 [reviewed], PC)
Developer: Spike Chunsoft
Publisher: Spike Chunsoft
Released: April 9, 2019
MSRP: $59. 99

Post-apocalyptic settings may be a dime a dozen in games, but Zanki Zero impresses with some obvious originality. Players take control of eight individuals marooned for unknown reasons on the mysterious Garage Island, the last refuge for humanity after the overnight annihilation of the rest of civilization. There they must not only worry about the daily grind of just surviving the island and its dangers, but also the greater mystery behind just what happened, and why everyone is on the island in the first place. The narrative quickly shows the roots it shares with the likes Zero Escape and Danganronpa. Wild reveals, dark secrets, and sci-fi twists abound, not least of which involves a crazy cycle of human cloning.

The survivors are, through a weird little device implanted in their navels, tied to something called the “Extend” system, which grants them functional immortality for as long as it takes them to solve the mystery and escape the island (or save the world, depending on who you believe). “Extend” is basically on-demand cloning – They can die over and over again, but can be resurrected, popping out of a strange arcade cabinet in a de-aged child form, their memories intact. There’s a catch, of course – their clone lifespan is locked to just thirteen days. Even if they sit quietly at home, they’ll grow, age, and die in less than a fortnight. The only way to break that cycle is to rebuild the rest of the machine, exploring the island and its labyrinthine ruins for parts.

In all this, they’re heckled and motivated by Sho and Mirai, a Goofus and Gallant-like pair of classic-style cartoon characters inhabiting “Extend TV,” a show that plays on monitors scattered throughout the environs and forming the main vehicle for Zanki Zero‘s storytelling. Sho and Mirai, much like a certain two-tone bear, give the characters missions, challenges, and at regular intervals, air secret “conquest videos”, stylized production delving into each character’s dark, often tragic past.

The writing and characterization of each of the eight cast members are top-notch, and their backstories delve into some surprisingly dark places, contrasting heavily with the absurd, colorful visuals and character designs used to present the scenes. Sensitive topics like incest, suicide, and sexual coercion are explored, putting it beyond the pale for the relatively teen-friendly Danganronpa. The vignettes are made more intense by the fact that each chapter shifts point-of-view, letting the story be experienced through the eyes and from the thoughts of the character that part of the story is about.

The narrative may be great, but what I feel more let down by is the game it’s all couched in. For all I’ve said about the story and characters, Zanki Zero‘s gameplay is somewhat less obviously memorable. Featuring the involvement of Lancarse, creators of Etrian Odyssey, Zanki Zero is structured as a Japanese-style roguelike first-person dungeon crawler. Players will move their party in first-person through the corridors of the island’s many and varied ruins, opening doors, solving puzzles of varying complexity, scavenging for supplies, and fighting monsters. They’ll also be dying, quite a lot.

Thankfully, the Extend system keeps the game from descending down the rabbit hole of being as torturous as more famous roguelikes and dungeon-crawler titles. Players can pay a cost in points (earned through combat) to revive any dead party members whenever they’re back at base, bringing them back to life as children (who eventually grow up, and grow old, over the span of their thirteen-day lifespan). The kicker to Extending is in the “Shigabane,” optional bonuses that can be added to a resurrected character (increasing their Extension’s point cost), and unlocked by the character’s experiences in their previous life. Killed by a boar? The next live’s Shigabane set might improve that character’s resistance to damage inflicted by boars or blunt trauma. Died as a kid? Next time around, that character might have a longer Child phase in their lifestyle. Shigabane make for a fascinating inversion of the old saying “Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Indeed, whatever did kill you last time gives you a chance in your next life.

Besides exploration, there are a host of classic-style survival mechanics to worry about. On the normal and higher difficulties, steadily declining hunger, thirst, and bladder meters force the party to swap out regularly to give the others time to eat, drink, and use the toilet. Ingredients for crafting equipment, cooking food supplies, and building improvements to the home base are scattered throughout the island and ruins, and lots of exploration and combat is needed to gather up everything required to ease the grind.

Working to ease the grind can be important, because without it, the combat in Zanki Zero largely fails to engage. Rather than settle for a more traditional turn-based combat system, Zanki Zero keeps it simple…by making everything real-time. Players will strafe and hop their party about on the grid-style map, dodging attacks and charging their own in an attempt to kill various monsters and bosses infesting Garage Island’s environments. Despite the addition of various weapons and more exotic equipment types (with their own risks and rewards), the combat never grows in complexity beyond the rote “dodge, charge, and target weak spots” pattern, and combat really only gets difficult when hemmed in by narrow corridors or facing more than a couple of enemies simultaneously.

Having somewhat mundane mechanics isn’t all bad, but it’s telling that the game effectively makes them optional through its difficulty settings. The lowest difficulty level all but removes the need for combat or even survival maintenance, allowing players to treat the experience as the equivalent to a Danganronpa-style adventure game rather than an RPG. I’d normally be quite impressed that the devs were bold enough to allow that choice from the get go (the minimum difficulty was a post-launch addition in Japan), but that the game, through its narrative, can still feel complete and satisfying at this difficulty level (which can be toggled on and off at will) speaks to how little the story and mechanics actually mesh. Most times, Zanki Zero feels like two or even three different games welded together and never gelling into a united whole.

Considering that I’ve never been all that fond of traditional dungeon-crawlers myself, I found the path of least resistance all too tempting to take, and regularly bopped the difficulty down to no apparent consequences. Sure, that helped me finish, but I’d have liked Zanki Zero to make a case for me to start getting interested in its style of play, rather than allowing me to just opt out of engaging except when professionally obligated to do so.

In the end, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is a credible and entertaining adventure, but its potential to stand alongside its developers’ best works is hampered by its systems and story’s inability to come together and elevate the experience beyond the sum of its parts.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning for PlayStation 4 Reviews

I only played about 8 hours and reached chapter 3 (or stage 3) so my review is obviously incomplete, but those 8 hours went so fast I barelyI only played about 8 hours and reached chapter 3 (or stage 3) so my review is obviously incomplete, but those 8 hours went so fast I barely noticed: the game surprised me despite its rather weird concept and the story and characters hooked me to discover more.

Zanki Zero is a sort of blend between Zero Escape and Danganronpa — both games made by Spike Chunsoft themselves — so the style is somewhat similar when it comes to setting or at least the mentality behind the whole game: 8 people are stuck in a place called Garage Island and, supposedly, they are the last survivor of the human race and they have to help save it by using the Extend Machine in order to complete their missions. At first, they think it’s a game but soon they discover that everything is more than real when two of the cast dies.

Zanki Zero is an RPG but to be honest it has barely any RPG elements in it: leveling doesn’t actually grants status bonuses but only unlocks better proficiencies and stats like better attack or cooking, meaning that you won’t be grinding any levels and instead you’ll be grinding mats and food for your survival. It’s better to say that ZZ is more of an action adventure game, where you’ll fight enemies in dungeons while also seeing cutscenes, mostly with grunts, and proceed with the plot.

I want to start with the combat because I heard really bad comments on it, saying that it looks like etrian odyssey or other dungeon crawler RPGs…well they’re partially right but it’s closer to games like Dungeon Master or Legend of Grimrock instead: you don’t have random battles and you can move freely during combat, which is on grids, and it’s important to be able to move around while attacking or else you can die in this game. And yes, you will die…which is probably the weirdest mechanic of the entire game.

I said that there’s no progress from leveling, but that’s because it’s tied to the Extend Machine and its Shigabane system, which essentially rewards you for…dying. Literally.
Whenever one character dies, their death will be recorded into the machine and the next body they’ll come out will have perks that increase their stats: dying of old age grants a general buff to all stats but, for instance, dying from a physical attack might reduce the damage next time, or dying from stress or lack of sleep might give you more stamina, and so forth. In other words, you must die, a lot, in order to get the good stats and you might be grinding deaths in order to get them since there’s over a hundred of them!

Unfortunately, it’s not infinite: you need to use your SCORE to clone your new body and while not expensive at first the more shigabane you get, the expensive it gets. You get SCORE from beating enemies and thankfully they do respawn, although randomly and not always timely so you can grind those score points.
Add the fact that your characters will die after 13 days, you’ll eventually have to understand the system and manage its perks properly.

But honestly, what draws me into the game it’s the story: the 8 characters aren’t exactly well defined at first but the more you play, the more you want to know about them. Each dungeon is, supposedly about sin and each character is their representation, which means that not only you’ll get to know them in depth but you’ll also be playing from their PoV!
Yep, each chapter (or stage) will make you play from the perspective of another survivor and you’ll get to see their feelings, thoughts and mental process: you’re not going to stuck with the «main» protagonist like most VN games but you’ll keep jumping to each character until their story is complete. It’s interesting and really hooks you in because you know what they’re thinking and the game will show each part of their backstory in stylized scenes with dark figures and no voicing, which is both weird and fascinating. I played 8 hours straight because I just wanted to know what’s going to happen, why did this happen, or if that character did something wrong, or why is something wrong. Even though they really don’t seem to grow a lot afterward but maybe it’s too early to say it.

So, do I recommend it? Honestly yes, I do, but you must realize that this game is a little different than your usual jrpgs and it requires a little bit of patience to understand its system: the combat is simple, extremely simple, but it’s also extremely simple to die from enemies (2-3 shots and you’re dead) and the Clione mechanic makes the game about high-risk high reward, but that’s something I haven’t fully tested as of now.

The best I can describe it is, Zanki Zero is an action adventure game with semi-survival elements and visual novel hints too, that while not perfectly flawless they make a rather intriguing and bizarre mix that I can’t wait to discover more about it!.

And considering Danganronpa and Zero Escape were already weird on their own, I hope to get the same here!… Expand

These are not tears, these are torrents of rain: Volgograd was washed away on the last day of the 2018 World Cup | v1.

All news

Where am I? What happened with me? It hurts!”: a woman was knocked down at a pedestrian crossing in the center of Volgograd

Why the decree on partial mobilization has not been canceled: the Kremlin’s response

I still can’t understand what happened: a schoolboy from Volgograd will go to conquer the North Pole

10 thousand — ideally: it became known how in Volgograd they will pay incentives to the National Guard

Near Volgograd, the shores of a rehabilitated erik are washed away in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain

Everyone is doing it wrong: how to perfectly cook eggs in the microwave in just 44 seconds

They promise a grand show: we look at how the center of Volgograd is being prepared for the celebration of the victory at Stalingrad

Drug addict and erudite. The story of teenagers who tragically died in the center of Novosibirsk: she fell off the roof, and he just walked past0003

“He just didn’t manage to get his wife out, she collapsed”: an emergency two-story building burned to the bare walls in Volgograd

“Everything will be as it should be — with uniforms and orders”: a monument to Stalin will be opened in Volgograd

Changed parties in clubs to a hijab. A manicurist from Russia moved to Turkey and converted to Islam for her husband — a story

“For the sake of the president’s safety?”: Volgograd introduced a ban on the transportation of dangerous goods0003

Spring came a month earlier: weather forecasters told whether to expect snow in Volgograd in January

Who is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and who is from the Federal Penitentiary Service? A difficult test of knowledge of the heads of Russian law enforcement agencies

The Kremlin explained why the decree on partial mobilization continues to be in force

We thought the war had begun: eyewitnesses filmed a terrible fire that destroyed an apartment building in Volgograd

«Let’s encircle the Wehrmacht»: in Volgograd will again play the war on Mamaev Kurgan

The largest kokoshnik in Russia was made in a psycho-neurological boarding school near Volgograd

An amazing buffet menu appeared in Volgograd — every dish makes you want to take pictures

“I lost one and a half liters of blood”: a 26-year-old worker had both hands torn off at the machine a week before the New Year

The body of a burnt woman has already been found: a fire destroyed an apartment building in Volgograd

In Volgograd, parents of preschool children tasted and learned how to cook dishes from the kindergarten menu

Damage of about a million: an electronics store was robbed in the Volgograd region

“He really tried”: five cars collided in the center of Volgograd at once doctors told about the condition of the victims in an accident with a minibus in Volgograd0003

Golden player of «Rotor» detained in Minsk

The HRC proposed to cancel OSAGO. What experts think about it

“It’s beneficial for someone”: General Bastrykin demanded to report on the bankruptcy of SNT near Volgograd

“One of the tentacles of the Volga octopus”: everything that is known about the detention of a Volgogradzelenkhoz official

Europe and Britain have gathered deliver tanks to Ukraine: main news around the NVO for January 22

Blocked 2 lanes: Audi rammed an ambulance in the center of Volgograd0003

“My classmates looked completely different”: look at the photo of the daughter of billionaire Khudyakov – you won’t believe that she is only 16 years old

The manager changed the kitchen beyond recognition: it took her a week and 10 thousand – look “before and after”

They were accused of supporting Kyiv: in the center of Volgograd, the communists were shot with a pepper pistol

«Graves passionately attract.» Private detective — about how people have sex in the cemetery, and about the rape in the crypts

All news

New at the bottom New at the top

July 15 15:55

After a lightning strike, some residents of the Dar-Gora microdistrict in the Voroshilovsky district of Volgograd were left without electricity.

“We are unsuccessfully trying to get through to the emergency gang,” writes Elena Stepanova from Volgograd. — The number is constantly busy. Light has not yet returned to the private sector.

In some apartments of Volgograd residents, the Internet was lost and the picture on the TV set rattled.

Photo: Nadezhda Baukova

July 15 16:09

The roads of Volgograd are slowly and steadily sinking into the water — and we are no longer talking about small paths in the yards. The flood encroached on the First and Second Longitudinals — the water took the extreme right lane, and in some places even built an obstacle course. Oh, how hard it is for drivers who drive along Eletskaya Street or Zhukov Avenue. Found other sunken roads? Write to our group on VKontakte or leave comments in our online broadcast. nine0003

July 15 16:30

A small avenue in the Krasnooktyabrsky district needs even average rain to hide under water. What can we say about such a downpour: the drivers are swimming, begging the car not to stall in such water. Pedestrians avoid the road altogether.

Photo: Yuliya Nesterova

July 15 17:04

Two shopping and entertainment complexes in Volgograd were closed due to a heavy flood. The rain disrupted the plans of employees of the KomsoMALL shopping center and the Voroshilov shopping center. According to sellers, the water reached some stores and swept away not only signs, but also goods. nine0003

July 15 17:07

The water that came into the city washed away clay roads leading Volgograd residents to their dachas.

“Until Wednesday, you can forget the word “leave” … now you can only “swim out” and “get out” … Clay remains slippery for a long time, writes Roman Makshantsev. “Now the water has gone. We hope that in a couple of hours we will still be able to get out of our dachas for the SHI.

July 15 17:14

Volgograd bus passengers do not have enough rubber boots. Water splashes in the cabin, washing the feet of the townspeople. Here is the rain!

July 15 17:29

And one more time about roads. On the flooded highways, as if by a click, long traffic jams grew. The mode “we drive for a minute — we stop for two” turned on on the First Longitudinal from Vozrozhdeniye Square to Mamaev Kurgan. The drivers who got stuck in a traffic jam from the Europe City Mall shopping center to the intersection with Prazhskaya Street were also unlucky. nine0003

Photo: Yandex.Traffic Service

15 July 17:57

Another nuisance. After the rain in Volgograd, the sandy bulk slope under the Volgograd Arena stadium was washed away. Mountains of sand, collapsed from a height, covered the Zero Longitudinal Highway.

Photo: Andriy Babyak

15 July 18:45

Light was returned to the inhabitants of Dar Gora. And sellers of shopping centers were allowed into their stores. A special machine glides over the water-flooded floors – in narrow openings, consultants sweep puddles with ordinary brooms. nine0003

July 15 19:08

Volgograd residents talk about new landslides near the Volgograd Arena. The water washed away the slope at the “dancing” bridge and turned out to be merciless to the footpaths on the stairs from the stadium to the new embankment.

15 July 19:33

Municipal vehicles are moving to the flooded section from the 7th Guards to the Volgograd Arena stadium — four loaders and about 20 KAMAZ trucks are clearing the road from mud. nine0003

We will work all night. We will remove the dirt that was blown along Nulevaya Longitudinal at best in a day, — said the director of the Severnoye MBU, Yevgeny Golovko.

July 15 19:55

Volgograd football fans were not afraid of the sharply changed weather. Hundreds of citizens are watching the final match of the World Cup, sitting on the steps and on the lawn.

July 15 19:59

And a few more photos that allow you to assess the scale of the Volgograd storm. The scene is the same: the area around the Volgograd Arena, which, alas, did not pass the strength test.

Photo: Artyom Burin

July 15 20:54

Volgograd EMERCOM employees warn of rain and squally wind that may stay in Volgograd all night. Rescuers advise not to park cars under trees, avoid all flimsy advertising banners and postpone swimming in the river. nine0003

July 15 21:52

An excavator began to dig out cars near the Komarovo residential complex. In the afternoon, a string of cars sank into the muddy clay.

— We are waiting for at least some equipment, — wrote the owners of the cars. “You won’t be able to get out of this quagmire on your own.

July 15 22:01

While the Volgograd communal services are clearing the blockages of sand, football fans are celebrating the final of the World Cup, and those who are indifferent to both are getting ready for the work week, photographer V1.ru walks by the city. Look at the rainiest day in Volgograd. nine0003

July 15 23:15

Well-known Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov is sure that construction workers’ violations were to blame for the failures near the Volgograd Arena.

— We have modern technologies and equipment. Computers are capable of calculating all loads in seconds, simulating any situations,” Ilya Varlamov writes in his blog. “There is little left for a person: follow the project, deadlines, technologies, do not save and do not steal. And everything will be for …… But it does not work. Yesterday Nizhny Novgorod was washed away, today Volgograd was washed away, tomorrow it will be worse. I have traveled all over the cities and I can bet that we will see many more similar pictures. I would like to see criminal cases after this, but I’m afraid I want too much. nine0003

July 15 23:57

Public transport stopped in Volgograd due to heavy rain. The flood stopped trolleybuses and trams. Volgograd taxis also worked with great interruptions. However, motorists quickly appreciated their advantage and raised the price tags. After the revelry of the elements, public transport began to work as before, the city administration reported.

July 15 23:58

According to weather forecasters in Volgograd, tomorrow morning the city will start with heavy rain. Volgograd people, get your umbrellas ready. This concludes our online broadcast. Good night and cloudless mood!

on the topic

June 01, 2021, 18:40

Terrible rain, City and Hurricane: Climate Apocalypse

Victoria Ryndina

Correspondent

Razydakotopatoptop is approaching Volgograd.0003

LIKE0
LAUGHTER1
SURPRISE1
ANGER0
SAD0

See the typo? Select a fragment and press Ctrl+Enter

COMMENTS111

Read all comments

What can I do if I log in?

Media News2

«Zero Boy» and Pandemics / Sudo Null IT News Formally, it all started with her: every third person on the planet fell ill and every sixth of those who fell ill died from an infection that passed into the lungs.

Half a billion patients quickly reminded us of the squalor of our own progress in the face of a few changes in the genome of a single virus. But how many of you, my curious ones, even know what the flu is? Where did the Spaniard come from before she came to us? What are we suffering from now? What makes us think that she was the first? What do these «bird» and «pork» strains mean? Where did the Spaniard disappear (if she did) and what did she leave behind? What a snotty and coughing path lies from h2N1 to h28 and N11 — how many millions of victims? Epidemics or Pandemics? How do we get sick? And what the hell is going on with these viruses anyway? nine0003

If you want to answer these questions and begin to understand the virology of the most famous and most popular disease of our time — sit back, today SV is investigating the 2009 influenza pandemic. Why is she? Because it is our old friend, and to understand why the old strains are returning, we will have to study the flu virus in more detail.

Panic set

So, in 2009, according to the news, a new strain of influenza appeared on the scene, which is referred to as influenza ph2N1 . At the same time, the small letter “p” is an abbreviation added by the World Health Organization at the last moment: p — pandemic , that is, the WHO classified the h2N1 strain as having reached pandemic status, about which the letter was added to the name. They would also immediately write: The Influenza Virus “everything is gone.” In general, the WHO is heavily criticized for the 2009 pandemic. A huge surge of panic in the press, in the governments of various countries, among the population and even “big pharma” (Pfizer, Roche, J&J, Sanofi, Merck, Novartis, etc.), years later will result in dozens of investigations and scientific research with a single question: nine0346 what scared us so much?

What is the most interesting thing about this story? That the acronym ph2N1 was nothing new. This was neither the first appearance of this particular strain, nor the first flu pandemic. It was Spanish. So, if you had well-known flu symptoms in 2009, you may have been ill with that very legendary Spanish flu … can you imagine? The Spaniard who returned with an echo after almost a century. The WHO actually brightened up the picture by disguising the epidemic as a strain number. If the news came out with the headlines “The Spaniard is back”, there would be much more business. nine0003

Where do flu legs grow from? In general, we are talking about the family of RNA viruses — Orthomyxoviruses (ὀρθός from Greek medical — “straight”, and μύξα — “mucus”). Ortho-mixo-viruses or «right-about-mucus-viruses». These are medium and unremarkable virions, which contain mostly 8 pieces of RNA code each. In this family there are inhabitants of a variety of animals, and a person, as a carrier, does not enter into their range in all cases. For example, the genus togotoviruses mainly lives in ticks. Cute little arthropods might suffer from little snot if they had any. But in the family of spleenviruses, we are most interested in the genera allocated for influenza — these are, respectively, alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Each genus inhabits one species: A, B, C, D, respectively. Influenza A and C infect a fairly large number of different animal species. While B is predominantly seals, influenza D affects livestock and pigs. And all 4 types are adapted to us. nine0003

We do not know how long ago it all started, when exactly the virus appeared, how it spread among different groups of animals, adapted to them and became almost natural in populations. Snot, as paleontological material, is completely unsuitable for study. So, representatives of ducks who died untimely a couple of thousand years ago with their remains cannot tell us about viruses — unless they damaged the bones and beak — absolutely nothing. But, since all the disgusting four can pass to a person, we conclude that major epidemics of influenza among people have occurred, if not since ancient times, then at least since the Middle Ages. We do not know this for sure, but only assume, collecting dozens of symptoms and eyewitness accounts, descriptions of epidemics and their consequences together. nine0003

During pandemics, up to 50% of the entire population can become infected in one year. There appear to have been 14 or more such influenza pandemics since 1500. Over the past century and a half of the era of microbiology (from 1876 to the present), pandemics in 1889, 1918, 1957, 1968, 1977 and 2009 have definitely occurred and have been well described. So the first truly documented one is the “Russian” or “Asian” flu pandemic, as it was called back then. So, when the epidemic of 1918 is called the “first”, this is an absolute myth. Interestingly, the vast majority of all epidemiological outbreaks are associated with influenza A, the high mutation rate of which made it possible to select viral RNA keys for a variety of animals several times faster than it happened in other types of influenza. nine0003

Keys to all doors

This random selection to date has generated 198 combination strains that allow all of these influenza A viruses to infect a wide range of hosts, including humans, birds, pigs, horses and marine mammals. The influenza A viruses themselves are classified according to the antigenic properties of the major surface glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Glycoproteins are a complex molecule made up of sugar and protein. Hemagglutin is, rather, the ability to stick together red blood cells, and not a specific molecule, neuraminidase is an enzyme that allows you to break down molecular compounds. nine0003

Thus, HA (or the same “H” in all flu abbreviations) is a complex multi-component protein molecule glued with sugar and is responsible for the ability of the virus to attach to the host cell. The attachment mechanism is implemented through membrane fusion. Influenza virus induced hemagglutinin (HA) is incorporated hydrophobically by the peptide moiety into the target membrane. The insert disrupts the cell membrane and forms intermediate links of lipid synthesis in the form of an hourglass, called stalks. Monolayers of two membranes are joined with this lubricant and fusion occurs. nine0003

Even if you didn’t understand anything, it’s still quite a beautiful triple molecule (trimer), and depending on how it combines N-acetylneuraminic acid with galactose, the ability of the virus to stick to different animals varies. And antibodies to this hemagglutinin provide basic immunity against the virus. N-acetylneuraminic acid, as part of the general complex — glycocalyx — is not only one of the building blocks of organic life on the planet, but also a sieve for cell membranes. nine0003

The second part — Neuraminidase (in all abbreviations N ) — is engaged in separating the N-acetylneuraminic acid residue from the cell membrane polysaccharides, thereby destroying the receptors that are sensitive to the virus on the cells of the host organism. In theory, this “blinds” the filter and helps the virus pass through the sialic acid-rich mucosal secretion cells back and forth. H — stuck, N — entrance. Two main keys for viral RNA entry into the cell. After the malicious code is injected, the cell begins to work according to a fake program and produce spare parts for new virions, and instead of its normal functioning, it starts the mechanism of a general disease. nine0003

To date, 18 HA and 11 NA subtypes have been described. All subtypes have been found in wild aquatic birds, except for the recent h27N10 and h28N11, which have been found in bats. Most likely, the world got the flu from some mallards. It then spread between different animal species, including those we chose to domesticate. And one of the zoonoses is only a small price to pay for wanting to have affordable bacon and chicken around you. May be. One way or another, throughout history, the influenza virus periodically crossed the species barrier and infected people. Some of these zoonotic stories have resulted in influenza viruses that can survive in humans and be transmitted from one to another. nine0003

The current epidemic strains of influenza h2N1, h2N2 and h4N2 we obtained from pigs.

But in general, cross-species transmission of influenza A viruses occurs more frequently from wild birds to domestic birds and between pigs and humans than between, for example, wild birds and humans, or wild ducks and domestic pigs. This is due to the limitations on the range in the transmission of the virus and the peculiarities of its adaptation.

The whole point is that outside the cell, influenza virions must not only be efficiently released, but also remain infectious outside while transiting between and within carriers. This is largely achieved by forming a filamentous form of the virus. nine0003

Surprising but damn true: influenza viruses can have two different morphological forms — filamentous and spherical. Rather, spherical ones are able to cluster into a thread in order to scatter further and survive better. In general, of course, this is still being studied, but in laboratories, virions growing on substrates are present only in a spherical form. And in nature, the filamentous morphology is also preserved. You can google flu viruses and most of the photos will have pieced shurundulas, and only rare black and white shots will show you ganged segments. nine0003

Pork Kettle

Added to the transmission features is the fact that human and animal influenza viruses show differences in HA receptor specificity. For example, in avian flu, sialic acid (SA) combos with galactose in an α2,3 bond (this is the type of bond). And human influenza viruses (h2, h3 and h4) are a combo of sialic acid and galactose in an α2,6 bond. Pigs can stick to both. On the surface, this is unnecessary and detailed information, but it is these differences that determine the epidemiological details, which then result in the localization of the virus, its choice of carrier by age and personal characteristics. nine0003

For example, in the normal adult nasopharynx, α2,6-SA and α2,3-SA can be found on ciliary cells and on mucus-producing cells. Bronchial epithelium contains a higher percentage of α2,3-SA compared to α2,6-SA. The airways of young children have more α2,3-SA and lower levels of α2,6-SA compared to adults.

The pig is often regarded as a potential «mixing vessel» for human and avian influenza viruses because pigs produce both α2,3-SA and α2,6-SA in their respiratory tract. Feathered assholes have α2,3-SA and α2,6-SA in both the respiratory and intestinal tracts, but, unlike pigs, there is no single species that has both types. connections at the same time. In some sources, SV found references that chickens and quails have α2,3-SA and α2,6-SA bonds on a large number of different epithelial cells in the respiratory tract and intestines. But this is controversial data, not to mention the sufficiency for mixing strains and causing epidemics. nine0003

Shift teams

Until 1889, the main influenza virus circulating among humans was from the h2 family. But in that ill-fated year, a new strain of the virus appeared — h3. It happened in Russia. The virus quickly spread around the world, killing about 1 million people. After that, h2 is replaced by H2 almost all over the planet. The reshuffle resulted in people who were born before 1889 and had the flu to remain immune to h2. But everyone else was sick with H2, and that the flu can be different, their immune system had no idea. At 1918, when h2N1 returned, probably breaking the species barrier as if nothing had happened, the epidemic claimed the lives of millions around the world. After 1919, the descendants of the h2N1 virus gradually replaced the H2 strain and remained circulating, causing seasonal flu outbreaks in humans… and pigs.

In 1957, the h3N2 virus causes the «Asian» flu pandemic, completely replacing the h2N1 virus, replacing its descendants and taking the leadership position once again. The pandemic is passing relatively easily, with between 1 and 4 million deaths worldwide. nine0003

New viruses appear as a result of reassortment, when human-adapted h2N1 gradually changes its genes to h3N2 avian influenza. The new surface proteins H and N mean that the markings to penetrate the membrane have changed, and most people do not have antibodies to the updated virus, which leads to a pandemic.

People tend to have a better immune response to the first flu virus they get. Because of this, the population born before 1957, whose first case of influenza was caused first by the h2N1 virus and then by altered h3 and h4, were immune to h2, but still got sick from their friends, although not as badly as if it had never seen the flu before. At 1968 h4N2 appears. An epidemic arises in Hong Kong, which is even weaker than the Asian flu — it claims the lives of 0.75 to 1 million people worldwide.

The virus differs from h3N2 only in one of the H surface proteins, since many people still have antibodies to the unchanged N2. But there is a rather unpleasant castling. h4N2 completely replaces h3N2 in humans. Since the appearance of h2N1, more and more time has passed, there are gradually no living people with antibodies to it.

In 1976, the first alarm bells are heard. The h2N1 virus hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s spreading through animals and then jumping from pig to human again, killing a US Army recruit. By this time, the flu and its various strains had been known for quite a bit. The infection occurred at Fort Dix, New Jersey. A few people die fairly quickly. Blood samples are sent for analysis and a Spaniard is found. At the CDC, upon hearing this news, someone choked badly and contacted the WHO. They double-checked everything and confirmed that the Spaniard is not good. Feb 13 CDC Director David Sencer quickly issued a memorandum calling for mass immunization against swine flu. States, fearing a repeat of the 1918 pandemic, are hastily beginning to vaccinate the population. The vaccine has managed to stick 48 million people, 532 of them will get Guillain-Barré syndrome as complications. But in general, the country has achieved immunity sufficient to prevent an epidemic.

A similar h2N1 virus appears in northeast China just a couple of months after the US panic. No one knows where it came from, although “Western specialists” claim that it looks exactly like the h2N1 virus that was distributed in the Soviet Union in 1950 as a result of some laboratory accident. Be that as it may, in 1977 in China, the virus causes mild pandemic . However, the real ass is that it does not supplant the previous and more dangerous seasonal h4N2 pathogen. Instead, they continue to live happily next to each other.

Recent calls

Another h2N1 generation appears in the USA. It is a hybrid of human, avian and swine flu viruses. And by 1999, it was effectively walking not only among people, but also became the dominant strain of influenza in pigs in the United States. nine0003

American pig farms are trying to control this little grunting phenomenon through vaccination, but these attempts are largely ineffective. The virus continues to evolve and does so too quickly, changing the surface proteins targeted by the vaccine while keeping its internal genes intact. Pork tanks make something new out of the virus, preparing us with an unobvious surprise.

Meanwhile, across the globe in Hong Kong, H5N1 influenza, first identified as dangerous to humans at 1997, spreads first in Asia and then around the world. Apparently, its roots are found in natural reservoirs in wild birds. Although the next «bird flu» proves fatal to humans, killing 60% of all its victims, it is not capable of rapidly spreading from one person to another. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. But then H5N1 is found in pigs in Indonesia, and here the scientific community starts to freak out. After all, if a more lethal pathogen gets the ability to spread quickly as a bonus from its predecessors, we will be in big trouble, and pig incubators are just right for that. nine0003

The threat is real and leads to real action. Everyone understands perfectly well that a couple of evolutionary steps are enough for a catastrophe not within the framework of a region or social status, as, for example, with Ebola or Typhoid, but a catastrophe within the entire human species. The production and stockpiling of antiviral vaccines is initiated, large-scale research begins, and governments are on the alert. Another 10 years pass, pandemic fears increase the cost of influenza research. European scientists are starting to organize into groups to track influenza in wild birds. Vietnamese scientists believe antibodies from avian flu victims could cure other cases with diseases of other strains. And it turns out that the statistical risk of dying from the flu is partly genetic. nine0003

However, Indonesia, which hosts most of the H5N1 outbreaks, refuses to share virus samples, arguing that it will not benefit from any vaccines developed as a result of the research, as the results of the research are not shared with it anyway. Slowly, concerns about H5N1 are subsiding, although virologists continue to warn that this is not the only deadly strain, and if it or they mutate, there will be much more problems. The brand new H9, H7 and h3 subtypes add to the sad thoughts. nine0003

In March 2009, the first cases of a new type of swine flu were reported in California and Texas. Retrospective genetic analysis showed that, most likely, he was here already in January.

Mega Farms

At the end of March 2009, a five-year-old boy in the small village of La Gloria, Veracruz state, municipality of Pirot, Mexico came down with the flu. This ordinary, apparently unremarkable, event in significance, in fact, was comparable to the beginning of a new world war. The boy was ill for 3 days before he felt an improvement in his condition and completely recovered. But just two weeks later, there were already more than 800 patients in Perot, and the boy was called “zero”. A month later, the disease has already captured 60% of the population of Veracruz. nine0003

Edgar Hernandez’s mother, besieged by journalists, sobbed and insisted that her son could not be the cause of this disaster. She and her neighbors were inclined to blame the pig farms of Perota, the capital of the state of Veracruz. Located 120 miles from Mexico City, surrounded by mountains on all sides, it huddled only 35,000 bipedal inhabitants and up to a million artiodactyls. Yes, yes, the population of pigs was ten times higher than the human one. Residents have been complaining about the consequences of pig farming for years. The smells from the grotesquely massive manure cesspools, blazing in the sun, soaked not only the air, but the houses themselves, clothes and even things. Dust clouds of dried manure travel from these parts for miles, being picked up by hot winds and stopping their breath as they approach. nine0003

And SV doesn’t exaggerate. The thing is, this is not about traditional pig farms, not even about Chinese pig farms — it’s about Carroll de Mexico («GCM») grungy or mega pig farms.

These are the colossi of animal husbandry, personifying overpopulation, global warming and the endless hunger of all 7 billion human throats.

Over the past twenty years, Mexican livestock production has undergone a series of radical transformations, production has increased and the number of farmers has decreased. In many ways, this transformation repeated the industrialization of agriculture in the United States itself at the end of 1980s and 1990s. The irony is that American mega-corporations have been the catalysts for change here and there. But, if at home, in the States, their goal was safe and legally correct production while maximizing profits, then thanks to the trade in liberalism in Mexico itself, NAFTA and the American lobby, Veracruz got what happened. Cities of pigs . .. and pigs, as you remember, without vaccination and in such a pig pile — an incubator for the production of new strains of influenza.

So who was more to blame? A million pig-faced incubators that are unvaccinated tanks? Farm workers? Mass consumption? Gluttonous neighbor of Mexico, who needs thousands of tons of bacon? Or 5 year old Edgar?

The great and mighty pandemic

On April 27, with 900 cases of the “new” swine flu reported in Mexico, WHO raises the global pandemic threat level from 3 to 4 on a six-point scale. Feverish start to produce vaccines for million people. The US Government advises its citizens to refrain from traveling to Mexico.

In May 2009, the situation actually hangs in the air. By , the virus appears to be spreading slowly by , indicating a low level of threat, but scientists keep reminding that this is a rapidly mutating strain, and preparing for a pandemic is warranted. “We’d better get over it,” the doctors say and prepare for the worst-case scenario.

The WHO seems to be playing for time. This is partly true, and this is because there is no data on the spread of influenza outside of Mexico and South America. But where will this data come from if no one monitors and checks tourists, no one conducts inspections of flights from Mexico, and no one asks which of the flu patients in Europe were on other continents. nine0003

Many people generally deny the possibility of the re-spread of the h2N1 virus around the planet, and they are not going to prepare for any of your doomsdays. By June 2009, news of the influenza outbreak in Mexico reaches the world community. The strain is being studied. They are convinced that this is really a descendant of a Spaniard. Record cases of the disease in neighboring countries and Europe. The public in the media shudders and voila: On June 11, the World Health Organization makes an official announcement about the outbreak of a new influenza A virus. Early reports from Mexico point to atypically high levels of disease severity and complications, especially in previously healthy young people. nine0003

Great Britain, and after it the whole of Europe, and even Australia, change their rules and start looking for sick people among those who visited South America. WHO officially declares swine flu a pandemic and adds the letter “P” to the strain — everything is bad. This serves as a signal rag for the giant flywheel of health systems in all developed countries, the government allocates money for the production of a pandemic vaccine, and this, by the way, is one of the reasons why the WHO is sometimes criticized. As soon as they are told that this is a terrible global threat of the “everything is bad / everything is lost / we will all die” class, the states involved in the organization are forced to allocate money to pharmaceutical companies for the production of vaccines. In order, in which case, to have time to distribute it to everyone. On the one hand, if you declare a panic too often, this is stupid financing of corporations, and if you remain silent, then you will have to finance mass graves. A controversial matter. nine0003

Racing with panic

On June 29, the Danish Ministry of Health announces that the h2N1 vaccine that has arrived from Mexico is resistant to Tamiflu, and, in addition, the h2N1 vaccine in production is exactly twice as slow as conventional ones. Patients begin to explore in more detail. It turns out that the new Spanish flu virus penetrates the lungs much deeper than the common flu, which explains why it is sometimes fatal. However, most cases outside of Mexico are still mild, and many of those with severe cases seem to have been affected by underlying health problems, whether they be heart disease, being overweight, or congenital conditions. nine0003

As autumn sets in in the northern hemisphere in September, experts begin to worry that swine flu could hybridize with deadly bird flu, creating a highly contagious human flu armed with the deadly H5 surface protein and spreading at swine speeds. Mass vaccination programs are starting in the US and Europe, but many health workers are as opposed to their own vaccinations as bees are to honey, only worse. There is a non-trivial zugzwang: on the one hand, the Ministry of Health in developed countries either lobbied at the legislative level for the need to vaccinate medical staff, and this staff rebels, saying that the vaccine is dangerous (although, according to statistics, the level of safety is the same as usual), or the vaccination of doctors is not obligatory, as in Britain, and then the average number of volunteers is about 10%. On the other hand, WHO is waving statistics, according to which in Mexico and Canada, of those hospitalized in serious condition, 40 and 10% died, respectively. nine0003

Vaccine production delays are also gradually ruining all plans. By October 22, only 27 million doses are available in the US, compared to an expected 45 million. Six months after swine flu first caught the world’s attention, US President Barack Obama declared the virus a national emergency. Considering that it was the first economy in the world, a state with one of the most developed medical healthcare systems, etc.

On 13 февраля, 2023 By alexxlab

Sonstig