Submitted by AskScienceModerator t3_yxofvc in askscience
haley_bridgewater t1_iwrp91w wrote
Reply to comment by Denk-doch-mal-meta in AskScience AMA Series: We're Experts on Influenza (aka the Flu). AUA! by AskScienceModerator
There is still a lot unknown about SARS-CoV-2 because it is a new virus. The flu and COVID-19 have similar symptoms, but they are caused by very different viruses, meaning our immune systems respond differently. We cannot use the flu as a model for things like seasonal effects, because we have seen that COVID-19 is not as strongly linked with seasons as the Flu is. We also know that they both spread through liquid droplets, but influenza is able to spread surface to surface better than SARS-CoV-2. I wish we could use Influenza as a model for SARS-CoV-2 because it would have let us get a grasp on the disease much faster, but unfortunately they are totally different viruses and act differently.
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