3 ms·

It seems like you know more than I do -- that's good news, thank you for correcting me! I was wrong about coronavirus causing all forms of the common cold. Th

It seems like you know more than I do -- that's good news, thank you for correcting me! I was wrong about coronavirus causing all forms of the common cold. They only cause 15%, whereas rhinoviruses as you say, cause 30–80%. Still, "the Coronavirus" COVID-19 causing virus is an RNA virus correct? Those mutate rapidly & in fact, evading immune systems via rapid evolution, is part of what has allowed RNA viruses to exist & thrive. This fact of being an RNA virus, might be one reason that making a vaccine is difficult & that long term immunity is in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_virus#Mutation_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_virus#Mutation_rates > Preliminary analysis of COVID-19 indicates that catching it once is likely to confer life-long immunity. I wasn't able to find this in your links. Regardless, I hope that is the case.

CydeWeys 6y ago
There's a lot, lot, lot more to it than simply saying that it's a DNA vs an RNA virus and that one categorically mutates faster than the other. The most relevant factor here is that COVID-19 only has a single strand of RNA, whereas e.g. influenza has 8. This allows a lot more mutation from pieces of RNA swapping around between different strands, which just can't happen on COVID-19. You can sort of think of it as analogous to sexual vs asexual reproduction; the former has a lot more potential for variation. Plus there's factors relating to the specific mechanism that coronaviruses use to attach to animal cells that make them less capable of mutating into any sort of a different shape that's still effective at all. And I'm nothing close to an expert on any of this. But refer to sources, e.g.: https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slowly-vaccine-could-be-long-lasting-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slow... https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-coronavirus-isnt-mutating-quickly-suggesting-a-vaccine-would-offer-lasting-protection/2020/03/24/406522d6-6dfd-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-coronavirus-isnt-m...
- kmtrowbr 6y ago
  https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slowly-vaccine-could-be-long-lasting-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slow... Thanks for sharing -- great link, I learned something, thank you.

CydeWeys 6y ago

There's a lot, lot, lot more to it than simply saying that it's a DNA vs an RNA virus and that one categorically mutates faster than the other. The most relevant factor here is that COVID-19 only has a single strand of RNA, whereas e.g. influenza has 8. This allows a lot more mutation from pieces of RNA swapping around between different strands, which just can't happen on COVID-19. You can sort of think of it as analogous to sexual vs asexual reproduction; the former has a lot more potential for variation. Plus there's factors relating to the specific mechanism that coronaviruses use to attach to animal cells that make them less capable of mutating into any sort of a different shape that's still effective at all. And I'm nothing close to an expert on any of this. But refer to sources, e.g.: https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slowly-vaccine-could-be-long-lasting-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slow... https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-coronavirus-isnt-mutating-quickly-suggesting-a-vaccine-would-offer-lasting-protection/2020/03/24/406522d6-6dfd-11ea-b148-e4ce3fbd85b5_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-coronavirus-isnt-m...

kmtrowbr 6y ago
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slowly-vaccine-could-be-long-lasting-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-mutates-slow... Thanks for sharing -- great link, I learned something, thank you.