Fact check: Textbook definition of coronavirus as common cold doesn't include COVID-19

Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: An old medical book says coronaviruses present as common colds

A picture of a page from a textbook that says a common cold is an example of an illness caused by a coronavirus became the focus of a popular Facebook claim this year that is still circulating.

The picture shows a table of families of viruses and their associated diseases and conditions. Facebook user Luis Martin posted the picture with the caption, "Old medical book, wow who would have thought ...," to his Facebook account on April 12. Martin has not responded to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

A Feb. 29 Facebook post containing what appears to be the same picture was posted by user Robert Lidell, who claimed it was, "Just a page out of an old book." Lidell has not responded to an inquiry from USA TODAY about the name of the textbook.

More: Coronavirus, allergies or flu? Here's the difference between COVID-19 and other illnesses

What is a coronavirus?

A coronavirus is one of a family of viruses responsible for a range of illnesses from the common cold to more serious diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome, which that was discovered in 2003. While a coronavirus can cause coldlike symptoms like shortness of breath and a fever, signs of more severe infections include pneumonia, organ failure and even death, according to the World Health Organization.

A novel coronavirus, like the virus responsible for COVID-19, is a strain of coronavirus that had not previously been identified in humans.

Fact check: What's true and what's false about coronavirus?

How many coronaviruses are there?

There are seven types of coronaviruses known to affect humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common are called 229E, NL63, OC43 and HKU1.

The remaining three are SARS-CoV, which causes SARS; MERS-CoV, responsible for Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS; and SARS-CoV-2 , the source of COVID-19. They evolved from animal viruses into coronaviruses transmissible to humans.

There is no cure or vaccine for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The mortality rate for COVID-19 is thought to be "substantially higher" than that of the common flu, according to a report from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Our rating: Partly false

We rate this claim PARTLY FALSE because some of it was not supported by our research. The common cold is caused by a coronavirus. But there exist other coronaviruses that affect humans in ways more serious than the common cold. The old textbook used as a reference in the Facebook claims did not address novel coronaviruses or animal-to-human transmission.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: A textbook's definition of coronavirus excludes COVID-19