Did genetic mutations cause the coronavirus to become more dangerous.
The claim surfaced in a post (archived here) on Facebook. It opened:, Users on social media saw posts like this:, , The post is "generally correct," said Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in an email. He cited the novel nature of the virus -- i.e., it has not been seen before in humans -- as meaning that "everyone is susceptible.", But he questioned whether the putative "slippery" nature of the virus -- the supposed rapid appearance of genetic mutations -- was responsible for its virulence. That has not been proven, he said., A story published March 25, 2020, in the Washington Post backs him up, reading:, The coronavirus is not mutating significantly as it circulates through the human population, according to scientists who are closely studying the novel pathogen\s genetic code. That relative stability suggests the virus is less likely to become more or less dangerous as it spreads, and represents encouraging news for researchers hoping to create a long-lasting vaccine.", The Post quoted virologists Stanley Perlman of the University of Iowa and Benjamin Neuman of Texas A&M University at Texarkana as saying the virus appears stable., "The virus has not mutated to any significant extent," Perlman said., "Just one \pretty bad\ strain for everybody so far," Neuman added. "If it\s still around in a year, by that point we might have some diversity.", , Saag said it was also not clear that the human immune system works only against human RNA:, The immune system is reacting to a foreign invader/pathogen. It is the immune system response to the virus that causes the tissue damage (ironically).", For example, the post continues:, Saag, who was recovering at home from a case of the coronavirus, challenged the post\s assertion that public health officials have no more tools in the shed. "We have social distancing and isolation," he said. "That is important!", He noted that President Trump has raised the possibility of dropping those tools by Easter to give a jolt to the economy. "Sounds ill-informed to me," he said., "Saag corroborated the posts assertion that reluctance by officials in Philadelphia and Baltimore to close public events was blamed for those two cities being hit hard by the Spanish Flu in 1918.", But the claim about Henry VIII staying in his room to avoid the Black Plague does not square with the history as told by History.com., "In 1528, Henry VIII slept in a different bed every night -- and not in the way you might think," it said. "He did have a mistress, his wife\s lady-in-waiting Anne Boleyn. But it was fear of disease that drove him to move almost daily that summer. The king was terrified of sweating sickness, a deadly epidemic that is nearly forgotten today.", The Black Death swept across Europe and Asia in the mid 1300s. Henry VIII lived from 1491 - 1547, during the time of the sweating sickness, a disease that left an imprint on literature as well as on humanity., Paul Heyman, author of a 2014 article about the illness in the journal Viruses, wrote:, Due to its sudden onset and its often fatal course, the English sweat became much feared and even Shakespeare expressed his concern for a re-emergence in his work "Measure for measure" (1604): \Thus, what with the war, what with the sweat, what with the gallows, and what with poverty...\", , There are many versions of this post circulating, each attributing the origin of the information to a different "reliable source.", , Vox published this graphic comparing the seasonal flu to the novel coronavirus on March 18, 2020:, , "Heres how the World Health Organization compared seasonal flu with COVID-19:", They both cause a wide range of respiratory disease, which can present as asymptomatic or mild through to severe disease and death., The viruses that cause the diseases are both transmitted by contact, droplets and surfaces., But they differ in speed of transmission, according to WHO:, Influenza has a shorter median incubation period (the time from infection to appearance of symptoms) and a shorter serial interval (the time between successive cases) than COVID-19 virus. The serial interval for COVID-19 virus is estimated to be 5-6 days, while for influenza virus, the serial interval is 3 days. This means that influenza can spread faster than COVID-19.", In addition, transmission of the virus before the appearance of symptoms "is a major driver of transmission for influenza," WHO says. "In contrast, while we are learning that there are people who can shed COVID-19 virus 24-48 hours prior to symptom onset, at present, this does not appear to be a major driver of transmission.", Some 5% of COVID-19 cases require ventilation, "higher than what is observed for influenza infection.", And mortality for COVID-19 appears higher than for influenza, according to WHO:, While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the data we have so far indicate that the crude mortality ratio (the number of reported deaths divided by the reported cases) is between 3-4%, the infection mortality rate (the number of reported deaths divided by the number of infections) will be lower. For seasonal influenza, mortality is usually well below 0.1%. However, mortality is to a large extent determined by access to and quality of health care.", WHO added that there is no approved treatment or vaccine for COVID-19, while antivirals and vaccines are available for influenza., Lead Stories is working with the CoronaVirusFacts/DatosCoronaVirus Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 fact-checkers who are fighting misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the alliance here., "Tom Watkins is a reporter/editor who has worked for news organizations for more than 30 years. After earning his undergraduate degree in biology from Brown University and his masters from Columbia Journalism School, he rose from reporter to managing editor at Medical Tribune, a newspaper that circulated to more than 1 million doctors worldwide.\xa0\r\nHe then spent 24 years at CNNs Atlanta headquarters in a variety of roles, from medical producer to producer/correspondent to news editor on the website. Since leaving CNN in 2014, he has worked for the World Health Organizations Health Emergencies Programme in Geneva and edited books for Hachette Book Group. He is based in New York City.", Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n      inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n      \n      Spotted something? Let us know!., Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n        inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n        \n        Spotted something? Let us know!.
Fact Check: NO Proof That Genetic Mutations Responsible For Coronavirus's Virulence | Lead Stories