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The virus changes rapidly, not unlike the flu. A vaccine isn't likely to be effective to eradicate it, and it will likely stay around as a permanent epidemic li
by pishpash 7y ago
The virus changes rapidly, not unlike the flu. A vaccine isn't likely to be effective to eradicate it, and it will likely stay around as a permanent epidemic like the flu or HIV. Virulence can increase or decrease randomly in the future, but the spread doesn't seem like it can be contained, since a perfect quarantine can't be maintained at this scale. We'll have to live with a new virus and pay the price of some natural selection.
- sanxiyn 7y agoPolio also changes rapidly (it's faster than HIV), but we are nearing polio eradication with vaccine. Relationship between vaccine and mutation is complex.
- hanniabu 7y agoI didn't know it changed, let alone that fast. Really makes it all the more impressive.
- DelightOne 7y agoDoes immunity still hold for the changed virus?
- jimworm 7y agoDepends whether the targeted antigen has changed. Best case (for humans) is if it couldn't escape the targeting without deactivating the virus. RNA viruses do change quickly, but influenza's probably on a different level with its multi-segment, randomly assorted genome.