From Pandemic Plague to Seasonal Sniffle: How Viruses Mutate Into Milder Strains to Survive

The advent of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 prompted a new wave of pandemic panic around the world, with many countries closing their borders and re-imposing lockdowns. But as the less-harmful nature of the new strain becomes more apparent, scientific knowledge of how other deadly viruses mutated into everyday illnesses has been borne out.