3 ms·

From the WHO: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus "Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses th

From the WHO: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus "Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans." The naming is actually a bit confusing to me, as the CDC has this to say[1]: "On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”." I'm not sure where the separation between virus and disease is or was, of if that even matters in the end. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

Godel_unicode 7y ago
Viruses are the physical thing which makes you sick. The disease is the sickness the virus (in this case) gives you. The problem is that nobody in the media* knows the difference or pays attention to it when reporting it. Wikipedia calls diseases "medical conditions that are associated with specific symptoms and signs".
- ohyeshedid 7y ago
  Thank you for the insight. It's been an interesting night; never before had I thought of chicken pox or a cold as a disease, but that's what they're classified as. In my worldview, up until tonight, my understanding of a disease was something that won't go away on it's own. Heart disease, Huntington's, etc. I agree about the media. While I've seen COVID-19 everywhere; I didn't know anything about the nomenclature in this field and have only heard references to a virus, not a disease.

Godel_unicode 7y ago

Viruses are the physical thing which makes you sick. The disease is the sickness the virus (in this case) gives you. The problem is that nobody in the media* knows the difference or pays attention to it when reporting it. Wikipedia calls diseases "medical conditions that are associated with specific symptoms and signs".

ohyeshedid 7y ago
Thank you for the insight. It's been an interesting night; never before had I thought of chicken pox or a cold as a disease, but that's what they're classified as. In my worldview, up until tonight, my understanding of a disease was something that won't go away on it's own. Heart disease, Huntington's, etc. I agree about the media. While I've seen COVID-19 everywhere; I didn't know anything about the nomenclature in this field and have only heard references to a virus, not a disease.