4 ms·
From what I understand, the medical community is treating this outbreak with such extreme measures because this virus is a perfect storm of factors that could l
by akiselev 7y ago
From what I understand, the medical community is treating this outbreak with such extreme measures because this virus is a perfect storm of factors that could lead to a new annual disease emerging, just like the flu and cold. It's deadly enough to become a major global concern and transmissible enough that it can continue spreading via asymptomatic hosts and other viral reservoirs between outbreaks. The jury is still out on the virus's rate of mutation but other coronaviruses, like the ones that cause a tenth of common colds, are known to mutate rapidly.
If we fail to stop the spread of the virus now, it may become a fact of life with an even higher annual death rate than the flu. We've already got plenty of infectious diseases and based on the data so far, it's worth extreme measures trying to stop it.
- wsinks 7y agoI hadn't even thought of the possibility that there could be a new cyclical virus that emerges! Thank you smart people in the WHO and global health community.
- koheripbal 7y agoThis is what virologists are expecting since it's clear containment has already failed.
- thaumaturgy 7y agoFor anyone that wants to read more about this or any other aspect of 2019-nCoV, there's a very good /r/askscience thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ewwmem/have_a_question_about_the_2019_novel_coronavirus/ https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ewwmem/have_a_q...
- dredmorbius 7y agohttps://old.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ewwmem/have_a_question_about_the_2019_novel_coronavirus/ https://old.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ewwmem/have_a_q...