The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a resurgence of the debate on whether host-parasite interactions should evolve towards avirulence. In this review, we first show that SARS-CoV-2 virulence is evolving, before explaining why some expect the mortality caused by the epidemic to converge towards that of human seasonal alphacoronaviruses. Leaning on existing theory, we then include viral evolution into the picture and discuss hypotheses explaining why the virulence has increased since the beginning of the pandemic. Finally, we mention some potential scenarios for the future.

中文翻译：

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SARS-CoV-2 毒力进化：无毒力理论、免疫和权衡。


COVID-19 大流行再次引发了关于宿主与寄生虫相互作用是否应演化为无毒力的争论。在这篇综述中，我们首先表明 SARS-CoV-2 的毒力正在演变，然后解释为什么有些人预计该流行病造成的死亡率将与人类季节性 α 冠状病毒的死亡率趋同。然后，我们根据现有理论，将病毒进化纳入考虑范围，并讨论解释为什么自大流行开始以来毒力增加的假设。最后，我们提到未来的一些潜在场景。