Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Critics said the flu kills more than
coronavirus. Why that's not a fair comparison -- and now, it's not even true
The basic reproduction number, or the basic
reproductive ratio, denoted R0 and pronounced “R naught,” is the reproduction
number that indicates how contagious an infectious disease is. R0 tells you the
average number of people who will contract a contagious disease from one person
with that disease. If no one has been vaccinated or previously infected, an R0
less than 1 causes less than one new infection, and the disease will decline
and die out eventually. If R0 is 1, the disease will stay alive and stable but
won’t spread rapidly or widely. However, if R0 is greater than 1, each infected
person causes more than one new infection, and therefore, the disease will be
transmitted between people and could trigger an outbreak or epidemic. For example,
the R0 of measles or chickenpox is over 10, smallpox is around 5, a common cold
is between 2 and 3, and the SEASONAL flu is usually less than 2.
However, the R0 of COVID-19 is at least 2 and possibly 3-5.
Another problem is that the outbreak of the
coronavirus doesn’t seem to be seasonal as the virus spread to the southern
hemisphere where March and April are summer months. Also, while symptoms of the
seasonal flu appear within a few days, it takes more than several days before noticeable
symptoms appear to the infected person. In addition, a flu vaccine could weaken
the symptoms, no effective vaccine for the novel virus has been developed or
approved yet. All in all, coronavirus is more contagious, long-lasting, and
dangerous to humans than the seasonal flu. That’s why many cities have been locked
down and strict measures have been taken by the national and local governments
for more than weeks, even months.
Read the article and watch the video to learn
why COVID-19 is such a threatening disease.
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