Strains of Coronavirus

There's a ton of fear in our community about the coronavirus mutating into several strains. Viruses mutate, but that doesn't mean we need to prepare for a super-virus. Resist sharing Aunt Carole's fear-mongering facebook post, and listen up:

First, coronavirus [as we know it] is actually one virus (SARS-COV-2) among the family of coronaviruses. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, or come from animals. Most coronaviruses pose no threat to humans at all and many present minor symptoms for animals too. For example, the most common kitty coronavirus only gives Fluffy a mean case of the runs. Other viruses in the coronavirus family that affect humans are SARS and MERS.

Second, viruses mutate. As a virus enters the body, it replicates by the thousands by using your cells as little factories. Purely by chance, some replications have differences (mutations) in them. You likely have several hundred tiny mutations of a cold virus floating about in your body right now. If you contracted a virus, it mutated within you, and then you were the first person to travel to an uninfected area for the virus, your mutations will be passed on to every other person (called the founder effect). Based on a map developed by Nextstrain (a super cool website you should definitely check out), there are currently 2,898 strains of coronavirus. The mutations within SARS-COV-2 are insignificant and will likely cause zero difference in humans.

Third, one strain is not "worse" than another. A recent study, published by the National Science Review, analyzed a small cohort of people (103) in Wuhan, China to better understand the origin of the virus. It indicated there were two strains, "L" and "S" with one being more aggressive and the other more transmissible. Both of these assumptions were based on one strain being more prevalent (70% vs 30%) than the other in a small, geographically isolated area. While this is coincidence, coincidence does not mean causation. Other reviews of this study have since debunked most of its claims. In short, all strains we know about are about all the same.

Last, vaccines can still be effective on multiple strains. As long as the mutated differences between viral strains remain small, one vaccine will likely be effective for all strains. Some scientists indicate SARS-COV-2 mutates ten times slower than influenza, which may mean for a more successful vaccine. Stay tuned, "super vaccines" are looking promising on the horizon.

Tell Aunt Carole to post more about her pinterest recipes and less about epidemiology.