Infectivity And Virulence
•Infectivity is the ability of a virus to jump from one person to another. The recipient must receive a dose large enough to cause the disease. From epidemic reports, it appears that SARS virus has low infectivity (ie it requires a large dose to pass on to the recipient). Other members of the coronavirus family have very high infectivity.
•Virulence is the property of the virus to cause damage to the patient’s organs. The SARS virus is very virulent. Other members of the coronavirus family have low virulence.