It seems like an eternity since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, but in reality the world only became aware of the new virus last December. Despite the tremendous efforts of scientists around the world, much about the behavior of this virus remains unknown.
Here are the questions that specialists do not currently have the answers to. This is one of the most basic, yet very important questions. Hundreds of thousands of confirmed cases have been reported worldwide, but this is only a fraction of the actual number of people who have become ill. In addition, there are many cases of asymptomatic infection, where people are infected but have no symptoms of the disease. Only by testing for the presence of antibodies will researchers be able to understand the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic.
Until we know the true extent of the pandemic and the number of people infected, it is impossible to determine the lethality of the coronavirus. It is currently believed that the mortality rate is about 1% of the number of infected individuals. However, if there are a large number of asymptomatic infected individuals, it may be significantly lower.
The main symptoms of coronavirus are high fever and dry cough. There have been reports of sore throat, headache, stomach upset, and loss of smell in some patients. The most important question, however, is the nature of mild flu-like symptoms, such as a runny nose. Research suggests that people with these symptoms may be unknowingly carrying the infection.
Children can be infected with coronavirus. However, they usually experience mild symptoms and the number of deaths in children is negligible compared to other older age groups. Children usually become super-spreaders of any infection, in part because they come into contact with a large number of people. In the case of coronaviruses, however, it is unclear to what extent they are such spreaders.
The virus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, apparently in the area of the local wildlife market. This virus, called SARS-CoV-2, is structurally similar to viruses that infect bats. However, scientists believe that the current coronavirus was transmitted from bats to some unknown animal and then spread to humans. This missing link in the chain of coronavirus mutations remains a mystery and may be a source of further infection.
Respiratory illnesses and influenza are common in the winter months, but it is not yet known whether the spread of coronaviruses will cease in the summer. For example, British virologists believe that the new coronavirus is less dependent on air temperature than influenza and the common cold. If the number of cases of coronavirus infection decreases significantly during the summer, there is a risk of a new outbreak of the disease in the winter.
In most cases, the infection is mild. However, about 20% of those infected develop severe complications. The causes are still unknown. It appears to be related to the state of the patient’s immune system and certain genetic factors. Understanding this can lead to a reduction in the number of patients who require intensive care.
There is still little information on how resistant immunity is to this coronavirus, although there are many assumptions. In case of successful recovery, patients should develop immunity against this virus. However, because the disease has only recently begun to spread, there is very little reliable data on this. Rumors of reinfection can be explained by incorrect data during testing. The question of duration and effectiveness of immunity is of great importance in the fight against the pandemic.
Viruses are constantly mutating, but most of the changes in their genome do not pose a threat. The general rule is that virus mutation leads to its weakening in the long term perspective, but this condition is not obligatory. The danger is that if the virus undergoes a certain mutation, the immune system will no longer recognize it, and vaccines developed specifically against it will no longer be effective.