>>11538174Theres only a finite amount of people for these viruses to infect. So once it has infected enough people, each host of the virus isnt coming into contact with enough people who are both not immune and uninfected.
They doesnt explain why they "just end". But it does explain why they explode, cause a huge disruption, and then slink away to very few infections.
>>11535094Yeah. The virus gets into your body via something called an ACE2 receptor, which the cells in your mouth and throat have.
So, apparently people get more ACE2 receptors as they age, which explained why children dont show symptoms and why its so hard on old people.
A paper in nature identified a handful of genes associated with ACE2 receptors, and you can look into your 23andMe data to see if you have any of the alleles.
To your question about touching stuff versus breathing in droplets. Right, breathing in other people's exhale is probably doing a lot of the transmitting. But, viruses can live on surfaces for a while, and what you touch might inevitably end up in your mouth is you arent washing your hands. Here is my best understanding of how viruses live on surfaces:
- Viruses can live for a long time on smooth surfaces like steel and aluminium. I have read things in the range of 3 to 14 days. But I have heard copper and bronze are anti-viral.
- Temperature is important. So, if its hot viruses dont last as long
- There is a different between the virus being alive on a surface, and the virus being infectious. The virus starts breaking down and it might be so unhealthy that it cannot infect others even if it is still technically alive on a surface.
- Porous surfaces, like cardboard, fruit, and skin, are naturally anti viral. But often times porous surfaces (like cardboard) can be difficult to sanitize.
