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Coronavirus reinfections: three questions scientists are asking; Second infections raise questions about long-term immunity to COVID-19 and the prospects for a vaccine.
Nature ^ | Heidi Ledford

Posted on 10/20/2020 8:25:16 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

When news broke last week that a man living in Hong Kong had been infected with the coronavirus again, months after recovering from a previous bout of COVID-19, immunologist Akiko Iwasaki had an unusual reaction. “I was really kind of happy,” she says. “It’s a nice textbook example of how the immune response should work.”

For Iwasaki, who has been studying immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, the case was encouraging because the second infection did not cause symptoms. This, she says, suggested that the man’s immune system might have remembered its previous encounter with the virus and roared into action, fending off the repeat infection before it could do much damage.

But less than a week later, her mood shifted. Public-health workers in Nevada reported another reinfection — this time with more severe symptoms. Was it possible that the immune system had not only failed to protect against the virus, but also made things worse? “The Nevada case did not make me happy,” Iwasaki says.

Duelling anecdotes are common in the see-saw world of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Iwasaki knows that she cannot draw firm conclusions about long-term immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 from just a few cases. But in the coming weeks and months, Iwasaki and others expect to see more reports of reinfection, and, in time, a picture could emerge of whether the world can rely on the immune system to end the pandemic.

As data trickle in, Nature runs through the key questions that researchers are trying to answer about reinfection.

How common is reinfection?

Reports of possible reinfections have circulated for months, but the recent findings are the first to seemingly rule out the possibility that a second infection was merely a continuation of a first.

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; infection; reinfection

1 posted on 10/20/2020 8:25:16 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

There have been 41 million cases world wide. 8.5 million in the U.S.

And they think they found one or two cases of re Infection? Ten?

It’s trivial. In fact proves immunity is conferred overwhelmingly.


2 posted on 10/20/2020 8:32:41 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: SeekAndFind

Does this now make five people out of the 41 million confirmed cases worldwide that have been “re-infected?” Or is this the guy who was number four?


3 posted on 10/20/2020 8:33:51 PM PDT by TigersEye (In all things ... trigger discipline.)
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To: SeekAndFind
From the article: "But, with only two examples, it is still unclear how frequently reinfections occur. And with 26 million known coronavirus infections worldwide so far..."

So two "reinfections" out of 26,000,000 (or 41,000,000 if you prefer Worldometers numbers).

Just flukes of nature. Why write a paper about it? Why draw any conclusions about it regarding vaccines, etc.? And why post it?

4 posted on 10/20/2020 8:35:07 PM PDT by norcal joe
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To: SeekAndFind

5 posted on 10/20/2020 8:37:37 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: norcal joe

RE: And why post it?

Why not? This is for discussion purposes.


6 posted on 10/20/2020 8:42:11 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: norcal joe
So two "reinfections" out of 26,000,000 (or 41,000,000 if you prefer Worldometers numbers).

The article is from Sept. 4th and the research for it probably occurred some time before that so I don't think they're disputing Worldometer's figures.

But your point remains as stated.

7 posted on 10/20/2020 8:44:36 PM PDT by TigersEye (In all things ... trigger discipline.)
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To: SeekAndFind
RE: And why post it?
Why not? This is for discussion purposes.

As predicted, the only discussion has been "A few re-infections out of tens of millions of cases means nothing." And this is the 4th or 5th time an article like this has been posted, with basically the same comments.

8 posted on 10/20/2020 9:00:33 PM PDT by norcal joe
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To: norcal joe

BINGO!


9 posted on 10/20/2020 9:07:34 PM PDT by House Atreides
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To: SeekAndFind

2 reinfections out of how million cases?

My first thought? Were the original 2 tests false positives?

How many 1000s of false positives out of the millions of “confirmed” cases?


10 posted on 10/20/2020 9:07:37 PM PDT by Hypo2
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To: SeekAndFind

Is this even the same strain of coronavirus that these people are getting reinfected with? Do these people have underlying conditions?

I have found that scientists rarely employ Occums Razor anymore. Usually the simplest explanation is the right one. These days they over-think and overcomplicate their investigations.


11 posted on 10/21/2020 12:31:50 AM PDT by Crucial
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To: SeekAndFind
Oh noes 😱😱😱😱 We’re all gonna die
12 posted on 10/21/2020 2:23:44 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: norcal joe

How did the guy with no symptoms know he was reinfected?


13 posted on 10/21/2020 2:24:48 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Nifster

Yes. Yes we are. Some sooner than others.


14 posted on 10/21/2020 5:34:03 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: logi_cal869
😉😉
15 posted on 10/21/2020 11:40:26 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Nifster

“How did the guy with no symptoms know he was reinfected?”

Tested positive


16 posted on 10/21/2020 4:45:35 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: SeekAndFind

Sounds like chickenpox, not common but a few people got it a second time. Always thought it was because they had slight cases.


17 posted on 10/21/2020 4:51:06 PM PDT by mware (RETIRED)
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To: TexasGator

Why go take a test if you have zero symptoms?

Are you aware the common cold is a type of corona virus??


18 posted on 10/21/2020 5:07:59 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Nifster

“Why go take a test if you have zero symptoms?”

Travel requirement.

“Are you aware the common cold is a type of corona virus??”

Are you aware that the common cold is caused by four types of coronaviruses?


19 posted on 10/21/2020 5:28:21 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: TexasGator

Yes but they all give you antibodies


20 posted on 10/21/2020 7:37:17 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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