• Question: Is the coronavirus closer to something like a virus or the flu, where the pathogen can change or is it more like a normal disease, which doesn’t really change?

    Asked by anon-256604 on 21 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Emma Wassell

      Emma Wassell answered on 21 Jun 2020:

      Hi Polina,

      The Coronavirus is a type of virus so it’s more similar to something like the flu and measles and different to other diseases like asthma and hay fever.

    • Photo: Rachel Tanner

      Rachel Tanner answered on 22 Jun 2020:

      Hi Polina, the coronavirus causing the current pandemic is a type of virus, and there is evidence that it is evolving or ‘changing’, like lots of pathogens do over time. But it seems to change much slower than the flu virus – this will hopefully mean we can make an effective and long-lasting vaccine to protect against the coronavirus.

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