Goodbye to the 'Even More contagious....' Headline

[Stubby]

TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS FOLKS

 

When COVID-19 made headline news worldwide, the experts banged on about why it's so dangerous to humankind. They told us it hovered around in the air like invisible smoke. 

 

BE AFRAID, THEY SAID, AND MOST OF US WERE

 

Whenever you were close to someone, you never knew if you'd breathed in a gobful of the submicroscopic infectious agent. So I was one of those who rushed out to buy disinfectant and hand gel. Yes, I sanitized anything and everything that came in from outside... including the cat!

 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

 

Over time, researchers announced new predominant variants and sub-variants. And each one that became the latest headline was even more transmissible than the previous. I couldn't get my head around this. I mean, the experts described Delta to the lay public as highly infectious. 

 

"It's more transmissible than viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, seasonal flu, and smallpox..." they said.

 

It's no wonder everyone was bricking it.

 

THE GOOD NEWS

 

The good news is that there are no adjectives left to describe the transmissibility of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2. And yes, it's even more contagious than those before it (no surprise there). But it seems that it's reached its end in terms of transmissibility. I've read numerous reports that the most contagious virus known to humans is measles, and BA.2 is pretty much aligned with that now.

 

So, we should never see that awful headline again that includes the words "Even More Contagious Than (previous variant here)."

 

Stubby

One of multiple reliable resources: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/omicrons-surprising-anatomy-explains-why-it-is-wildly-contagious/

Edited April 29, 2022 by Stubby

[Bkk Brian]

53 minutes ago, Stubby said:

The good news is that there are no adjectives left to describe the transmissibility of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2. And yes, it's even more contagious than those before it (no surprise there). But it seems that it's reached its end in terms of transmissibility. I've read numerous reports that the most contagious virus known to humans is measles, and BA.2 is pretty much aligned with that now.

 

So, we should never see that awful headline again that includes the words "Even More Contagious Than (previous variant here)."

 

Your concluding good news summary bares no resemblance to the article you linked to in its conclusions which are:

 

"Future variants, if and when they appear, may have yet other modifications to their structures and abilities. “I’m not confident that we can rest on our laurels and say this is all over,” Barclay says. With infections continuing to spread and evolve among many populations around the world, the virus is going to come up with more ways to transmit—including ones that scientists haven’t even thought of yet."

[Stubby]

27 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Your concluding good news summary bares no resemblance to the article you linked to in its conclusions which are:

 

"Future variants, if and when they appear, may have yet other modifications to their structures and abilities. “I’m not confident that we can rest on our laurels and say this is all over,” Barclay says. With infections continuing to spread and evolve among many populations around the world, the virus is going to come up with more ways to transmit—including ones that scientists haven’t even thought of yet."

Firstly, I never said anything about COVID19 being over, but rather one of its unwelcome headings. 
 

So yes, it's goodbye and good riddance to the "Even More Contagious Than...." headline once and for all. From a psychological viewpoint, that is very good news indeed because folks have had enough of 2+ years of grim updates. Hopefully, the next one will be that coronavirus is less harmful than a mild cold, but let's wait and see, a?

[Bkk Brian]

5 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Firstly, I never said anything about COVID19 being over, but rather one of its unwelcome headings. 
 

So yes, it's goodbye and good riddance to the "Even More Contagious Than...." headline once and for all. From a psychological viewpoint, that is very good news indeed because folks have had enough of 2+ years of grim updates. Hopefully, the next one will be that coronavirus is less harmful than a mild cold, but let's wait and see, a?

As in the article you quoted however and as I pointed out, it directly contradicts your conclusions.

[Stubby]

On 4/29/2022 at 1:15 PM, Bkk Brian said:

As in the article you quoted however and as I pointed out, it directly contradicts your conclusions.

The good news is that there are no adjectives left to describe the transmissibility of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2. And yes, it's even more contagious than those before it (no surprise there). But it seems that it's reached its end in terms of transmissibility. I've read numerous reports that the most contagious virus known to humans is measles, and BA.2 is pretty much aligned with that now.

 If you think COVID19 will become more transmissible than measles (if that's even possible), I'll leave you with your thoughts and bid you a good day.

[Bkk Brian]

Just now, Stubby said:

The good news is that there are no adjectives left to describe the transmissibility of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2. And yes, it's even more contagious than those before it (no surprise there). But it seems that it's reached its end in terms of transmissibility. I've read numerous reports that the most contagious virus known to humans is measles, and BA.2 is pretty much aligned with that now.

I'll leave it at that, as I can't be arsed with forum bickering. If you think COVID19 will become more transmissible than measles (if that's even possible), I'll leave you with your thoughts and bid you a good day.

I don't know how SARS-CoV-2 will evolve, that's the problem, nobody does, to say its all over and there will not be more contagious variants however is just plain wrong, even scientists can't state that all we can do is hope.

 

“Omicron is certainly not the last variant. At this point, it would be hard to tell what the next variants will be like.”

[Scott]

We are certainly reaching the point where people are starting to learn to live with Covid-19, at least at the psychological level.  It also seems that we are doing much better at the biological level.   We have masks and vaccines, we know that hygiene is important, including hand washing, but hand washing may not be as pivotal as was first believed.  It's a matter of live and learn.   Early research does show that Omicron appears to be more viable longer on surfaces than previous variants.   We also have antivirals that work and we have a better idea of what treatments work best and when to use them.  

 

  I certainly hope we don't find ourselves in a position to find out that a variant can be more transmissible.  It's a delicate balance between lethality and transmissibility. 

[TKDfella]

Oh, I'm sure the media will find some to replace Covid...like...China finding the first case of a variant of the Bird Flu H3N8.

'The virus warrants expanded surveillance, said Erik Karlsson, deputy head of the virology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.'

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/china-reports-first-human-case-h3n8-bird-flu-2022-04-26/

[1FinickyOne]

just from incidental news...

 

I now hear about more and more people I know and acquaintances and family of theirs getting covid in a very mild way and it is soon gone... 

 

so, that's nice.

[Dart12]

"It is, as it was, and forever shall be..."

Only the headlines  have changed, not the disease.

[geisha]

Virus are not new and here to stay. It s just the way they are passed from person to person that differs. Some viruses are deadly. Worse outcomes if they are highly contagious. The flu kills an average between 300 and 700 thousand people a year !! Less these last two years because of Covid where we wore masks and washed hands more often etc.  measles kill around 160 000 young ( normally) children a Year. Similar, Malaria causes 650 000 deaths a year, and we still don’t take it seriously enough !! That’s where wonderful advances in medical research helps enormously.  Often said, the main cause of viruses is man itself.  Hunting , farming and keeping exotic animals , population growth, global travel, and climate change all cited as contributing to spread of dangerous viruses. This was one of the reasons where keeping those animals close together in wet markets caused a spillover into the human population. Causing Covid pandemic. 
Maybe it’s up to us to wake up and try to stop some of those causes.