At least 8 strains of the coronavirus have been identified

[babylonsister]

Color me concerned anyway.


At least 8 strains of the coronavirus have been identified
Researchers say the small mutations are useful in showing how the virus is spreading around the world, and aren’t cause for concern.
By Joseph Guzman

Thousands of genetic sequences of the virus have been uploaded to the open database NextStrain.
The database shows how the virus is spreading and splitting into new but similar subtypes.
Researchers say the mutations are slight and it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

Researchers have identified at least eight strains of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than one million people across the globe, and say the mutations are useful in determining just how the virus is spreading.

Thousands of genetic sequences of the virus have been uploaded to the open database NextStrain, which shows how the virus is migrating and splitting into new but similar subtypes. Researchers said the data show the virus is mutating on average every 15 days, according to National Geographic.

NexStrain co-founder Trevor Bedford said, however, the mutations are so small that no one strain of the virus is more deadly than another. Researchers also say it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

“These mutations are completely benign and useful as a puzzle piece to uncover how the virus is spreading,” Bedford told National Geographic.

Bedford said the different strains make it possible for researchers to see whether community transmission is widespread in a region, which can show whether stay-at-home measures are working.

“We’ll be able to tell how much less transmission we’re seeing and answer the question, ‘Can we take our foot off the gas?” Bedford said.

The database also shows how the coronavirus is spreading throughout the U.S.

more...

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/medical-advances/491056-at-least-8-strains-of-the-coronavirus-have-been?fbclid=IwAR3fP6M7-qQxLGZRlPXKKgnprwDVk0rtboLHd3kw25kxYHR6kQB-5Lwk_cI&fbclid=IwAR2CIgNI7uEpkGQL7-2-MUU13JmTqGv6Kn0ITO4QTzkQOJeyyGZF13HARC8

[global1]

1. Could A Virus Ever Mutate Itself Out Of....

its contagious phase? Essentially could it wear itself out?

I'm not sure if I'm using the proper terminology regarding this question - but could it become less contagious with time and spread?

[2naSalit]

3. Good question.

I hope the answer is a good one.

[exboyfil]

4. Seems evolutionary pressures would push it to be more contagious

but less lethal. The big thing is everyone exposed that develops antibodies to fight the virus. Ideally a less virulent form gets to you first. That is how vaccines used to work with live viruses (and still work with dead viruses). That is why cow pox was used for immunity to small pox.

[Pobeka]

5. Not likely.

This is basic evolution. Things that are most successful at replication are more prevelant. So the most contagious strains will continue to be most prevelant.

But WE can beat it back by not giving it our bodies as the replication factories -- buy time until a vaccine is available, or enough of us have had it that herd immunity blocks transmission of the virus.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Many microbes have become less virulent over time. If they don't kill their hosts ...

... the hosts can spread the microbe again and again, which makes it more likely the microbe survives. When the host is hardly harmed at all, the microbe becomes just another part of the hosts' environment. Many of the harmless -- even beneficial -- microbes in our guts probably got there this way (given, these in particular are mostly bacteria, not viruses).

MIcrobes which kill their hosts too quickly die out, because they have destroyed the only environment in which they can survive. For viruses, ease of transmission is a survival trait. Lethality is a countersurvival trait.

If this weren't true, think how many super-virulent microbes would have evolved over the few million years that hominims have been around ...

[jimlup]

2. Wow!

I had no idea that mutations occurred that quickly. Thank God I'm a physicist and not a biologist.