SARS mutating rapidly

[Skyclad1uhm1]

The virus thought to cause Sars is constantly changing form, say scientists - which will make developing a vaccine difficult.

 

[dugweb]

:Q

 

[Syringer]

 

[Azraele]

That's not good.

 

[BooGiMaN]

this is starting to sound like stephen king's The Stand

 

[Scarpozzi]

Like is says though...you really don't know if mutation is going to make it stronger, weaker, or the same. It just makes it difficult to make a vaccine. I figure we're all going to die when the aliens come get us in a couple of years anyway so it doesn't really matter. Get your Nikes on.

 

[DDCSpeed]

Whoa....has there been any other illness like this that we have encountered ( rapid mutation)?

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: DDCSpeed
Whoa....has there been any other illness like this that we have encountered ( rapid mutation)?

Normal flu mutates constantly, so do several other virii, but most are not (very) lethal, and most aren't this infective.

 

[guapo337]

aids mutates.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: DDCSpeed
Whoa....has there been any other illness like this that we have encountered ( rapid mutation)?

The flu, the common cold, many STDs (both viral and bacterial), etc.

Why do you think there's a new flu vaccine every winter? They're trying to keep up with all the new strains.

 

[guapo337]

yeah flu does as well. they have to make a vaccine each year for flu season, and it's a shot in the dark as to whether their vaccine will be effective against the form that hits america. only one vaccine can be made (time/money constraints) and research has to be done throughout the year to determine which virus should be vaccinated against in mass terms.

 

[tinyabs]

how does virus mutates? through radioacivity?

 

[FrustratedUser]

Not that ads on the left side isn't bad, but this is scary. I hope they find a cure and do it right

 

[spanky]

man, scarey stuff

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: tinyabs
how does virus mutates? through radioacivity?

No, just spontaneously. When something replicates itself billions and billions of times, it's bound to do so incorrectly now and then. At least that's how i think mutation occurs.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: tinyabs
how does virus mutates? through radioacivity?

Just like evolution creates new species, but in micro format.

 

[Looney]

200 dead worldwide?

 

[43st]

Originally posted by: tinyabs
how does virus mutates? through radioacivity?

It's natural selection really. The weaker of the strains die off and the stronger ones continue to reproduce.

I've always enjoyed the ads for the soap that kills 99.98% of all bacteria. It pretty much advertising that all it does is speed up the natural selection process by weeding out the weakest 99.98% of the population. Yup... Make that .02% reproduce and all of a sudden you have bacteria that is "anti-bacteria" resistant.

Humanity will end from it's own marketing/stupidity yet.

 

[Vic]

This hype is killing me.
SARS is a coronavirus, similar to the Common Cold. Those types of virii do mutate rapidly, and this was expected. However, just like SARS, coronavirii tend to have low mortality rates. So far, most of the deaths from SARS have been people who would have otherwise died from the flu or a severe cold, i.e. the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
Yes, this disease is serious. Yes, people will die from it. However, if you are young and healthy, getting SARS is no worse than getting the flu (probably better).

 

[zephyrprime]

This sucks. We're all gonna die.

When something replicates itself billions and billions of times, it's bound to do so incorrectly now and then. At least that's how i think mutation occurs.

In somes sense, the mutations are on purpose since they allow for adaptiions to the environment. So mutations aren't exactly a mistake, just really haphazard and random.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Vic
This hype is killing me.
SARS is a coronavirus, similar to the Common Cold. Those types of virii do mutate rapidly, and this was expected. However, just like SARS, coronavirii tend to have low mortality rates. So far, most of the deaths from SARS have been people who would have otherwise died from the flu or a severe cold, i.e. the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
Yes, this disease is serious. Yes, people will die from it. However, if you are young and healthy, getting SARS is no worse than getting the flu (probably better).

interesting...i figured as much but haven't really been paying attention to this...do you have a link to back this up?

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Vic
This hype is killing me.
SARS is a coronavirus, similar to the Common Cold. Those types of virii do mutate rapidly, and this was expected. However, just like SARS, coronavirii tend to have low mortality rates. So far, most of the deaths from SARS have been people who would have otherwise died from the flu or a severe cold, i.e. the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
Yes, this disease is serious. Yes, people will die from it. However, if you are young and healthy, getting SARS is no worse than getting the flu (probably better).

No, it's worse than the flu... flu deathrate is about 0.004%, and almost entirely the elderly. This is about 5%, and although the majority are elderly, there have been some that are younger and have died.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1

Originally posted by: DDCSpeed
Whoa....has there been any other illness like this that we have encountered ( rapid mutation)?

Normal flu mutates constantly, so do several other virii, but most are not (very) lethal, and most aren't this infective.

Although its a bit early for these kinds of analogies, the word 'alarmist' certainly comes to mind, check out:

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918

Short Notes on the Spanish Flu

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
This sucks. We're all gonna die.

When something replicates itself billions and billions of times, it's bound to do so incorrectly now and then. At least that's how i think mutation occurs.

In somes sense, the mutations are on purpose since they allow for adaptiions to the environment. So mutations aren't exactly a mistake, just really haphazard and random.

Well, the mutation is a mistake in the replication process. It's just that if the mutation is beneficial to the virus, it'll live, and spread the mutation. If it's not beneficial, it'll die, and so would the mutation.

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: Vic
This hype is killing me.
SARS is a coronavirus, similar to the Common Cold. Those types of virii do mutate rapidly, and this was expected. However, just like SARS, coronavirii tend to have low mortality rates. So far, most of the deaths from SARS have been people who would have otherwise died from the flu or a severe cold, i.e. the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
Yes, this disease is serious. Yes, people will die from it. However, if you are young and healthy, getting SARS is no worse than getting the flu (probably better).

Actually its been rather healthy people that have died from it so far.