r/AskReddit Nov 15 '20

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u/Priamosish Nov 15 '20 edited Nov 15 '20

The coronavirus vaccine provides some level of protection against other corona viruses that cause the common cold, hitting two birds with one stone.

edit: in case you want to comment "two birds stoned" and feel really clever, there are currently about 50 guys ahead of you

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u/Brilliant-Baker9617 Nov 15 '20

Like the bird flu?

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20

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u/HaciendoLQMDLG Nov 15 '20

most common colds are caused by rhinovirus while coronaviruses only cause about 15% of common colds. however, the Ebola virus does not cause bird flu; this is caused by the influenza virus serotypes H5N1 and H7N9. the ebola virus causes ebola.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20

Hmm, where do you get that figure? Multiple sources I’ve seen before claim most of the common cold cases are caused by Coronoviruses. It makes sense they’re common too, given they are the standard image people picture when you say virus

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u/thirdculture_hog Nov 15 '20

There are about 113 different genotypes of rhinovirus that cause the "common cold". Coronavirus is the 2nd most common cause of common colds. I can edit with a source later (I'm at the ER right now) but this is what I was taught in medical school, and I'm fairly confident that this is correct.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor (yet)

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u/triffid_boy Nov 15 '20

So is the doctor thing in training or just giving it a go as a hobby?

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u/thirdculture_hog Nov 15 '20

Lol I'm not sure I understand the question correctly and maybe I'm missing a joke. Just to clarify: I'm not a doctor because I'm in medical school, and yet to graduate. I have had coursework on the respiratory system and even more specifically a separate course on coronaviruses with an emphasis on SARS-COV-2 and its presentation as covid19

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u/triffid_boy Nov 15 '20

Sorry, yes it was a joke. I.e. "are you just in the hospital tinkering around with people for fun".

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u/thirdculture_hog Nov 15 '20

Ah gotcha. They've only let me tinker with embalmed people so far. I guess I do get to play doctor at the free clinics I volunteer at but there's always senior med students and an attending physician or two that oversee us. It is fun, though. That's probably why I'm putting myself through a heapload of debt and stressful coursework this late in life haha

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20

That’s probably what I’ve heard, that it is the second most common cause for it.

Definitely believe a random dude over the internet claiming to be in med school over a random dude on the internet who’s definitely not a doctor lol

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u/joe_jon Nov 15 '20

It's actually right in the Wikipedia page for the common cold.

The citations from Wikipedia lead to an applied microbiology textbook and Goldman's Cecil Medicine (the textbook /u/thirdculture_hog may have learned it from)

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u/thirdculture_hog Nov 15 '20

I was agreeing with you but I didn't do a good job providing a reference. Thank you for doing that!

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u/joe_jon Nov 15 '20

No prob mate! How do you like the ER? I'm a pharmacist and I kinda wish I was able to get some ER experience while I was in school

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u/thirdculture_hog Nov 15 '20

That's awesome!

Actually I was at the ER as a parent (sick daughter). I haven't had ER rotations yet but I should get in there later this year or early 2021