4 ms·

On average, yes. This is also the tendency for most diseases, too evolve into a form less destructive to their habitat so it's easier for them to get to new pla

On average, yes. This is also the tendency for most diseases, too evolve into a form less destructive to their habitat so it's easier for them to get to new places to infect. Given that this is biology I will note there are surely counter examples and variations on how fast this trend takes place.

QuantumGood 3y ago
Strains that infect more hosts outcompete other strains. People are protected themselves from further infection by being less active / more careful. Sure, if they also killed all hosts, they might themselves die, but it's more about infectiousness than lessening virulence, isn't it? Some infectious strains may be more virulent, some not.
lawlessone 3y ago
Can they evolve to evade the tests? So many people relied on testing for this disease. More than most others, that it must have created some small selection pressure.
- braiamp 3y ago
  As long as such evasion is of benefit for its proliferation. If the ones that evade tests and the ones that don't evade transmit at the same rate, it would be irrelevant.
bugglebeetle 3y ago
It’s largely a myth that viruses follow this evolutionary path and no such pressure really exists for COVID. It doesn’t kill enough of the population for this to exist and even when it does kill people, it can spread for weeks or months before they die. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/do-bad-viruses-always-become-good-guys-end https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/do-bad-viruses-al...
- Majromax 3y ago
  There is some pressure in this direction for respiratory illnesses. It's easiest to spread an illness when it's present in the upper airways (and thus easiest to cough/sneeze out), but the illness does more damage to the lungs when it's deep in the tissues. If it were an exclusive choice, evolutionary pressure would tend to push the former, more transmissible route. The literature at least tentatively reports that Covid variants tend to make this shift (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024278/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024278/), which partially explains why the variants were more transmissible than Covid!Classic.
- stuaxo 3y ago
  Indeed, it seems like wishful thinking.

QuantumGood 3y ago

Strains that infect more hosts outcompete other strains. People are protected themselves from further infection by being less active / more careful. Sure, if they also killed all hosts, they might themselves die, but it's more about infectiousness than lessening virulence, isn't it? Some infectious strains may be more virulent, some not.

lawlessone 3y ago

Can they evolve to evade the tests? So many people relied on testing for this disease. More than most others, that it must have created some small selection pressure.

braiamp 3y ago
As long as such evasion is of benefit for its proliferation. If the ones that evade tests and the ones that don't evade transmit at the same rate, it would be irrelevant.

bugglebeetle 3y ago

It’s largely a myth that viruses follow this evolutionary path and no such pressure really exists for COVID. It doesn’t kill enough of the population for this to exist and even when it does kill people, it can spread for weeks or months before they die. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/do-bad-viruses-always-become-good-guys-end https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/do-bad-viruses-al...

Majromax 3y ago
There is some pressure in this direction for respiratory illnesses. It's easiest to spread an illness when it's present in the upper airways (and thus easiest to cough/sneeze out), but the illness does more damage to the lungs when it's deep in the tissues. If it were an exclusive choice, evolutionary pressure would tend to push the former, more transmissible route. The literature at least tentatively reports that Covid variants tend to make this shift (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024278/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024278/), which partially explains why the variants were more transmissible than Covid!Classic.
stuaxo 3y ago
Indeed, it seems like wishful thinking.