From a Western perspective it remains very unclear, but the chances are high of widespread infection and public and political panic, with huge strains put on underfunded health services.
Fucking hell that is an idiotic and wildly irresponsible headline even by the normal standards of science illiteracy in the media.
If this virus really does become an existential threat, the news is going to become the enemy.
Don’t laugh!
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Especially since there have been a least some suggestions that the death rate might be higher in China possibly because there are so many smokers.
Why do these viruses just die out on their own without the hosts having the chance to develop immunity, die off or all quaranteen themselves?
Huh?
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I think he’s asking why literally everybody doesn’t end up getting it. Which I’ve wondered.
Because it’s not a perfect transmitter. Because it takes a decent viral load to get infected. Because we all have immune systems that fight it. Because some immune systems are better than others. Etc. etc. etc.
When these viruses just peter out, what happens? What kills them all? If some mutate to something else, what happens to the quadrillions that didn’t? Obviously this virus is hearty and virulent enough and not inta-kill enough (like ebola) that it can spread across a population and yet most of the time when a virus comes along that fits that description it just dies out.
But this one is infectious enough to spread.
I didn’t read the article, but from the headline and the photo I assume smoking cigarettes cures this thing once and for all?
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I’m not suggesting that every single person on the planet should be expected to contract it, but why wouldn’t it be most likely to spread everywhere on Earth at this point and infect populations at roughly the same rate it has been doing in China.
Mutations and herd immunity. Natural selection favors a virus that doesn’t kill its hosts.
The second sentence is why I’m pointing out that it’s different than ebola. As for the first, how does the US population or Mexico or Japan have any herd immunity? Wuhan may not be able to get this virus again, but that doesn’t imply American herd immunity.
Immune systems gobble them up
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We don’t have herd immunity. This is at a very high risk to spread here.
What makes you think America has heard immunity to this?
Ok, “high risk”? But how high? And why do these types of things sometimes just die off? (SARS or w/e) I think my question is good enough and reasonable enough that I’m asking one of the like beetlejuice, hobbes, Trolly people.
I meant that eventually a place that has experienced the outbreak gets some level of herd immunity, from the people who have recovered from it.