Re:Will SARS-CoV-2 become endemic?
by rich_sasha on Friday October 16, 2020 @05:02PM
(#24805034)
I think roughly this, but it is a bit more complex.
Basically, mutations of the virus that cause it to spread more make it more likely for the strain to persist. Usually this means, virus becomes more benign, doesn’t kill people quickly and instead causes some minor illness, which gives the patient more opportunities to spread it.
But it’s not a given. It could for example mutate to become more deadly, but with a longer infectious period. This is what happened to myxomatosis in rabbits in Australia.
Basically, mutations of the virus that cause it to spread more make it more likely for the strain to persist. Usually this means, virus becomes more benign, doesn’t kill people quickly and instead causes some minor illness, which gives the patient more opportunities to spread it.
But it’s not a given. It could for example mutate to become more deadly, but with a longer infectious period. This is what happened to myxomatosis in rabbits in Australia.