nCov (General)

by dan, Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 07:04 (1512 days ago) @ dulan drift

This is an interesting virus because although the fatality rate is low relative to SARS and MERS, it is contagious while the carrier is asymptomatic, something that SARS and MERS were not, so it appears that it will spread like wildfire once it takes hold in an area.

And this means that although the fatality rate is lower, the actual fatalities may be much higher because more people may end up catching it.

I also wonder if a virus is more likely to mutate if more people have it. A lot is made of the possibility of viruses to mutate and take off. I remember that was a fear with SARS. But is that really a common thing? If it were, one would think we'd have much more of a problem with viruses than we do.


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