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Can someone more familiar with the virology comment on the meaning of this statistic? I keep hearing it, but I don't really know how to interpret it. Delta's ob
by mariojv 5y ago
Can someone more familiar with the virology comment on the meaning of this statistic? I keep hearing it, but I don't really know how to interpret it. Delta's obviously more infections than the original strain, but could one simply have a virus that "weighs more" than another virus, without being more contagious, and have it have 1000x more "viral mass" or "viral load?"
How should this stat be interpreted epidemiologically? Should we care more about R0 than viral load?
- wahern 5y agoViral load refers to quantity of viral particles, not weight. A greater viral load suggests faster replication, which can be consequential to disease progression; and it also suggests easier transmission as transmission probability tends to be a function of number of viral particles shed (among other characteristics).