Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms

Re:Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms by pishpash on Thursday January 30, 2020 @04:57AM (#22190205)

The virus changes rapidly, not unlike the flu. A vaccine isn't likely to be effective to eradicate it, and it will likely stay around as a permanent epidemic like the flu or HIV. Virulence can increase or decrease randomly in the future, but the spread doesn't seem like it can be contained, since a perfect quarantine can't be maintained at this scale. We'll have to live with a new virus and pay the price of some natural selection.

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Re:Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms by DelightOne on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:04AM (#22190246)

Does immunity still hold for the changed virus?

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Re:Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms by jimworm on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:53AM (#22190472)

Depends whether the targeted antigen has changed. Best case (for humans) is if it couldn't escape the targeting without deactivating the virus.

RNA viruses do change quickly, but influenza's probably on a different level with its multi-segment, randomly assorted genome.

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Re:Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms by sanxiyn on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:01AM (#22190222)

Polio also changes rapidly (it's faster than HIV), but we are nearing polio eradication with vaccine. Relationship between vaccine and mutation is complex.

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Re:Japan confirms coronavirus infections without symptoms by hanniabu on Thursday January 30, 2020 @05:03AM (#22190243)

I didn't know it changed, let alone that fast. Really makes it all the more impressive.

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