It's not more 'transmissible'.

[RudolphToldRedNoseNotSymptom]

It's more con-fucking-tagious.

Just spit it out without inventing new words. Who ever heard of transmissible until 4.20pm today? Does it make it better? No. It means it's more contagious.

COVID is communicable, infectious, contagious and transmissible. Transmissible is the term used because they don't want to imply it isn't also all of these other things

Transmissible doesn't mean it's all of those other things though. A transmissible disease may or may not be contagious. Contagious diseases are always transmissible though.

@Simarilion

Transmissible is a widely used term & is not precisely interchangeable with either 'infectious' or 'contagious'. A disease which is transmissible is one that can be spread from person to person. However it may not easily spread - for example CJD is transmissible from human to human but only via invasive procedures (variant CJD has been spread via blood donation; sporadic CJD via organ donation). CJD is therefore very hard to transmit for person to person so is not infectious or contagious. Measles on the other hand is highly contagious & spreads very easily & rapidly. So to say that a mutated virus is more transmissible means just that- it spreads more easily. I don't think we have enough detail to describe it as contagious (social distancing wouldn't work if it was).

Good post helps explain it

I always thought contagious meant transmissible through touch. This virus is more than that though?

I would imagine most people were left with the idea that it's easier to catch. I don't know why you are so hung up on the word.

@RudolphToldRedNoseNotSymptom

Yes, just having a vent into the void. Ignore me. It's not transmissible.

If it wasn't "transmissible" it wouldn't be a virus!

It's a standard medical term. Sorry you don't like it.

I don't think we have enough detail to describe it as contagious (social distancing wouldn't work if it was).

Well if it wasn't contagious there would be no need for social distancing, would there? It is definitely contagious - the definition is a disease that spreads easily from person to person.

Who among us thought this morning that by the evening we'd be splitting hairs over 'transmissible' and 'contagious'! 2020 sure has been a strange year.

@SnackSizeRaisin I didn't say they were interchangeable scientifically - merely that words are carefully selected for both scientific meaning, and public response. I was merely clarifying the categories COVID-19 falls into, as other posters had raised questions that indicated these terms are exclusive.

Anyway, I work in security, not biology, but was on a call about this today. Porton Down are using NGS target enrichment to sequence the new variant. This allows for a more thorough examination of the strain than genotyping, and essentially uses magnetic pull down to enrich protein-RNA interactions using end-labeled RNA as the bait. This is a technique used especially for mutations, and allows a more thorough overview of the changes without being biased around our current understanding of COVID-19 cells. This, as you can imagine, takes longer than traditional methods - but the world would really like the UK to be sure of what this new strain looks like before we go into a full panic

The Chief Scientific Advisor did at least say that it's thought to have originated in England. Yooohooo. Made in the UK.

Woo hoo!!! Covid-20 ©2020 United Kingdom!!

Here you go op

transmissible
[ trans-mis-uh-buhl, tranz- ]SHOW IPA

SEE SYNONYMS FOR transmissible ON THESAURUS.COM
adjective
capable of being transmitted.

Presumably when one has been talking incessantly about a contagious illness for almost a year, one develops a few synonyms.....

😅

Didn’t Whitty say the new strain was milder and likely to be a cold?

OP is right to point out that contagious is a better word.

Whatever it's 70% more virulent. Who cares a f... What u call the act of catching it is ffs!

@AcornAutumn

Didn’t Whitty say the new strain was milder and likely to be a cold?

Please let it be so.

@yeOldeTrout

OP is right to point out that contagious is a better word.

Why?

@yeOldeTrout

OP is right to point out that contagious is a better word.

I don’t think so, because it’s transmitted via exhalations and surfaces, not by physical contact (touch) alone.

Lower literacy levels. Clear communication requires plain English.
"Transmissible" is not Plain English.

bmj uses the phrase, “more infectious “
www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4857

OP, if it makes you feel any better I have had 5 of my team off work with what I assume to be the new variant over last 2 weeks. None of them have been particularly poorly but they have been a bit nauseous which I don't remember hearing much about with the first strain of Covid. I have also been working on a post Covid ward where patients wait for ages because homes and Care Agencies well not take them back until they swab negative( which can take more than 3 months, and people wonder why hospitals are full!!) anyway, many of these patients came into hospital for other reasons and are mainly frail and elderly but they all ended up testing positive whilst in hospital and many of them had no symptoms at all and were very surprised to find they had and survived Covid. The research is still being done but anecdotally I would say this strain is far more infectious but less deadly.

transmissible is reasonable
transmittable is a term I have heard often with the u=u campaign
contagious might have more effect but lead to patient zero/typhoid Mary/stigmatising of positive cases

transmissible was a term chosen deliberately - face it, those who give a shit will understand it and follow the rules (Tier 3 here since Eid, home alone with 2 kids this Xmas and no support bubble whatsover: am sucking it up) and those that won't will do what the hell they like, justifying it however they want to.

WTF?

Not a new word in the slightest!!

Vdbfamily. That's really interesting to read. I know several people who've been diagnosed with Covid in the past week. I haven't been ill, but have felt a bit tired and have had days when I've felt nauseous and dizzy. I had to lie down the other day because I felt so odd. I've also been tired and achy.
Nothing that I wouldn't have just ignored at another time but you've made me wonder......

He's using the word transmissible because it is the correct scientific term and has a precise meaning. In epidemiology, it is used to describe the transmission rate of all diseases, not just contagious diseases.

Non-communicable diseases are diseases that you can't catch eg heart disease or diabetes.

Communicable or transmissible or infectious diseases are diseases that are caused by micro-organisms (bacteria or viruses), and caught either from people, animals or the environment eg tetanus from bacteria soil.

Contagious diseases are diseases that are easily caught by contact with other people. It has a very specific meaning.

Virulent/virulence refers to how severe/harmful a disease is, not how easily it spreads.

I don't suppose Op is this incandescent about the word. It's just an unfortunate outlet for the rage.

I get it, I mean we've all got to be sensible and stoical about the new developments but I do feel a bit like kicking the sofa, wailing I hate this and stop saying the word transmissible Chris. You've said it five times in seven minutes and it sounds weird now.

Op you need a hug