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I have a few questions about the China virus

bpost
Every year we face a flu season that may or may not have an effective vaccine available, some folks get it some folks die from it.  The flu bug hits us then goes away in the spring.  The flu is highly contagious, I got influenza A a few weeks ago and did not know I had it.
With that said how and why is the China flu so much more contagious and deadly?  Why can this virus spread so fast and so far impacting many more people in our nation compared to other flu viruses in a typical year?  Is the China virus that much more easily spread?  Is the virus more likely to infect you in different ways than other viruses?
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Comments

14 comments

Date Votes
  • spasmcreeksrun
    a virus is nothing more than self replicating DNA...its only function is to reproduce and the fallout is of no consequence to it
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  • hillbille
    short answer Bruce, if I understand it right, the yearly flu is just a different strain than the one from last year, you have some immunity in your body for it. this corona virus is entirely new and your body has no hidden immunity to it, so it takes body by supprise, and longer to fight it off.  I am sure there are more highly scientific answers but this is the laymans version..........
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  • Mobuck
    The reason it's also called "novel" corona virus.  Less of a mutated last year's virus and more of a different branch of the tree sort of thing.
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  • nmyers
    Covid19 is more virulent than most viruses we have seen; that is, it is easily spread.  A single sneeze from someone 6' away from you may infect you.  A smear of snot on a counter left 7 days ago might infect you.  Scientists have not yet had the time to do lab tests, so it's still not known just how easily it is spread.

    Covid19 also has a long incubation period.  After someone is infected, within a few days he can pass the virus on to others, even though he appears to be completely healthy; he may not show symptoms for a week after becoming infected.  So, the virus is transmitted to multiple individuals in multiple locations long before it is recognized.

    Covid19 is deadly because it attacks the lungs; it doesn't just cause congestion, it destroys lung tissue.  Those with damaged lungs (asthma, emphysema, COPD, transplants, prior infections, etc) may survive covid19 without a respirator (a machine that breathes for you when your lungs are compromised.)  This makes it more deadly than other viruses.

    If you don't know who to believe as the situation changes, listen to Dr Fauci for accurate, easy to understand, information.
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  • caterham
    Listening to Dr. Fauci and ignoring everything Trump says about the virus is probably your best option.
    -3
  • Cling2myguns
    https://www.sciencealert.com/genome-analysis-of-the-coronavirus-suggests-two-viruses-may-have-combined

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  • chiefr
    caterham said:
    Listening to Dr. Fauci and ignoring everything Trump says about the virus is probably your best option.I
    Can you share one example of what Trump said other than redacted bullshyt from bias partisan media?
    6
  • Mr. Perfect
    bpost said:
    Every year we face a flu season that may or may not have an effective vaccine available, some folks get it some folks die from it.  The flu bug hits us then goes away in the spring.  The flu is highly contagious, I got influenza A a few weeks ago and did not know I had it.
    With that said how and why is the China flu so much more contagious and deadly?
    The viruses that cause influenza and this new coronavirus are different types of viruses, have different (although there is some overlap) modes of transmission, incubation periods, and survivability outside the body and on surfaces, in the air, etc.  One would argue the viruses that cause influenza are actually MORE contagious. But transmissibility and survival rates have exactly nothing to do with one another. It is more deadly than the viruses that cause influenza because of how it is acting on the host it infects. This virus, being so new, did not have established treatment protocol. It even acts differently than known coronaviruses like the one called SARS in 2003. 
    Why can this virus spread so fast and so far impacting many more people in our nation compared to other flu viruses in a typical year?
    To my knowledge, it is not.
      Is the China virus that much more easily spread?
    No.
      Is the virus more likely to infect you in different ways than other viruses?
    Yes.

    I recommend you do not guess about such matters as a host of information is available at the CDC and WHO websites:
    https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html



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  • serf
     Getting back to work  right after Easter comes to mind. No vaccine available with relapses possible? Now if Trump had quarantine all passengers coming in by the end of January it might have worked but now it's very iffy.
                                   serf
     

    Trump stood by his suggestion on Tuesday, saying he wanted the US open for business by Easter, just 19 days away. “I think it’s possible. Why isn’t it? We’ve never controlled the country before and we’ve had some flus and some viruses. I think it’s absolutely possible,” Trump told Fox News. “We have to get our country back to work. Our country wants to go back to work.”

    The administration is now reportedly considering easing some physical distancing directives in order to halt the collapse of the economy.

    Many experts think that’s a terrible idea.



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  • Butchdog2
    I am afraid that too many "expert" comments about the "flu" are from arm chair experts.
    3
  • caterham
    chiefr said:
    caterham said:
    Listening to Dr. Fauci and ignoring everything Trump says about the virus is probably your best option.I
    Can you share one example of what Trump said other than redacted bullshyt from bias partisan media?
    I hope that is not a serious question.  The list of incorrect information that we have heard from Trump is way too long to even begin documenting.
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  • jimdeere
    caterham said:
    chiefr said:
    caterham said:
    Listening to Dr. Fauci and ignoring everything Trump says about the virus is probably your best option.I
    Can you share one example of what Trump said other than redacted bullshyt from bias partisan media?
    I hope that is not a serious question.  The list of incorrect information that we have heard from Trump is way too long to even begin documenting.
    Pick one.
    3
  • caterham
    Catmandon1 said:

    I think caterham might be a left wing troll

    Truth and accuracy is not a "right" or "left" issue.  Something is either true and accurate or it is not.
    0
  • caterham
    GreatGuns said:
    caterham said:
    Catmandon1 said:

    I think caterham might be a left wing troll

    Truth and accuracy is not a "right" or "left" issue.  Something is either true and accurate or it is not.
    So, you are a left wing troll? I'm getting confused.
    Jim
    We can definitely agree on that; you are terribly (and dangerously) confused.
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