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Has the "common cold" actually been a long series of corona viruses in a continuing pattern of ever evolving mutation?
Not simply one consistent strain? As in, "I've got a cold."
Have we actually been having a different variant of the "cold" virus each and every time?
If so, does that show that new variants of corona virus have been with us for many years?
If this is the case then it would seem that the main difference between today's cv19 mutations and cold and flu viruses of the past is the widespread promotion.
Preaching to the choir, I know.
Just thinking through some ammunition to help the uninformed on their way.
If this can be shown it seems like it could be a powerful argument.
Thank you for reading.
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u/Nightcereus is absolutely correct. A bit of context necessary, supplied below, is that colds are most often rhinovirus (maybe 70%) and then coronavirus is probably second (maybe 20%).
More important: WP teaches us there are seven coronaviruses and we've been tracking them about 100 years. Four of them are common cold, are everywhere, and nobody does anything about them: OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63. To get the virus name put "HCoV-" in front of each; the disease name is common cold. But we could just as easily call it COVID-229E or the like. These 4 are so established that nobody even bothers to distinguish which of the 4 you have or whether it's a rhinovirus.
The other three are SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 one). SARS and MERS are deadly but not very contagious (thank God). But notice how they deliberately named the new mutant after SARS even though it operates exactly like the four common cold coronas?
I propose that when anyone gets the cold we call it the "common covid" because even if it's actually rhino we are still classifying "coronavirus disease" as nothing deadly if it's not SARS or MERS.
I propose that when discussing the virus name we call it what DARPA called it: not SARS-CoV-2, but SARSr-CoV-WIV, and tell people what WIV stands for.
I propose that when anyone mentions COVID-19 we say "no, probably COVID-229E" and explain the difference between common covid and the noncontagious respiratory virus (SARS/MERS). This is especially useful for symptomatic people with "negative COVID-19" tests.
And that great talking point below: You never get the same cold twice; you never get the same covid twice. Now all the effort goes into good immune system and healthy practices and responsibility, and questioning authorities who forum-slide you away from those.
Excellent information. Thanks very much.