A fellow blogger sent this to me. It is an FYI.
"This is the best description of the danger of virus mutation that I have seen lately and why this virus is so dangerous.
“Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu?
Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this helps. Feel free to share this with others who don’t understand ... It has to do with RNA sequencing ... i.e. genetics."
Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year. You get immunity two ways = through exposure to a virus or by getting a flu shot.
Novel viruses come from animals ... the W.H.O. tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually, these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1 and birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once one of these animal viruses mutates and starts to transfer from animals to humans, then it’s a problem. Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity … the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it, so we can’t fight it off.
Now ... sometimes the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human. For years it’s the only transmission -- from an infected animal to a human -- before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human. Once that happens we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, that’s what decides how contagious or how deadly it’s gonna be. H1N1 was deadly but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. Its RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too. Fast forward …
Now, here comes this Corona virus ... it existed in animals only for nobody knows how long.
But one day at an animal market in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person. But here is the scary part ... in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability “slippery”. This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity), took off like a rocket. And this was because Humans have no known immunity ... doctors have no known medicines for it.
And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus changed itself in such a way that it causes great damage to human lungs. That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1, or any other type of influenza ... this one is slippery as hell. And it’s a lung eater. And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain S and strain L ... which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.
We really have no tools in our shed with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places have helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.
And let me end by saying right now it’s hitting older folks harder. But this genome is so slippery -- if it mutates again … who is to say what it will do next. Be smart folks ... acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now: #flattenthecurve.
Let's pray that we can develop a vaccine for the S and L strains before the virus mutates again!
Stay home folks and share this with those that just are not catching on.”
Share as if your life depends upon it because now you can see it truly does and then vote blue up and down the ticket. The life you save may be your own and/or that of your family!
"This is the best description of the danger of virus mutation that I have seen lately and why this virus is so dangerous.
“Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu?
Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this helps. Feel free to share this with others who don’t understand ... It has to do with RNA sequencing ... i.e. genetics."
Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year. You get immunity two ways = through exposure to a virus or by getting a flu shot.
Novel viruses come from animals ... the W.H.O. tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually, these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1 and birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once one of these animal viruses mutates and starts to transfer from animals to humans, then it’s a problem. Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity … the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it, so we can’t fight it off.
Now ... sometimes the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human. For years it’s the only transmission -- from an infected animal to a human -- before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human. Once that happens we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, that’s what decides how contagious or how deadly it’s gonna be. H1N1 was deadly but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. Its RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too. Fast forward …
Now, here comes this Corona virus ... it existed in animals only for nobody knows how long.
But one day at an animal market in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person. But here is the scary part ... in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability “slippery”. This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity), took off like a rocket. And this was because Humans have no known immunity ... doctors have no known medicines for it.
And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus changed itself in such a way that it causes great damage to human lungs. That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1, or any other type of influenza ... this one is slippery as hell. And it’s a lung eater. And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain S and strain L ... which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.
We really have no tools in our shed with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places have helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.
And let me end by saying right now it’s hitting older folks harder. But this genome is so slippery -- if it mutates again … who is to say what it will do next. Be smart folks ... acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now: #flattenthecurve.
Let's pray that we can develop a vaccine for the S and L strains before the virus mutates again!
Stay home folks and share this with those that just are not catching on.”
Share as if your life depends upon it because now you can see it truly does and then vote blue up and down the ticket. The life you save may be your own and/or that of your family!
