Posted on 04/03/2020 7:15:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Troubling headlines have been cropping up across Asia: Some patients in China, Japan and South Korea who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and seemingly recovered have been readmitted to the hospital after testing positive for the virus again.
Because SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was only discovered a few months ago, scientists are still trying to answer many big questions related to the virus and the disease it causes. Among them is whether patients can be reinfected by the virus after they seem to recover from the symptoms.
With other coronavirus strains, experts say the antibodies that patients produce during infection give them immunity to the specific virus for months or even years, but researchers are still figuring out if and how that works with COVID-19.
The answer has huge implications for the spread of the disease, since researchers believe it will continue to crash across the world in waves, hitting the same country multiple times.
Can you get re-infected after recovering from COVID-19?
There remains a lot of uncertainty, but experts TIME spoke with say that it’s likely the reports of patients who seemed to have recovered but then tested positive again were not examples of re-infection, but were cases where lingering infection was not detected by tests for a period of time.
Feeding Front Line Workers Amid Coronavirus Outbreaks, One Duck Confit at a Time
As Coronavirus Spreads, Washington's $1 Billion Aid Cut Couldn't Have Come At a Worse Time for Afghanistan Experts say the body’s antibody response, triggered by the onset of a virus, means it is unlikely that patients who have recovered from COVID-19 can get re-infected so soon after contracting the virus. Antibodies are normally produced in a patient’s body around seven to 10 days after the
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Yes, you do. While there are many viruses that cause the common cold, only 4 are coronaviruses, (HCoV)-NL63, -OC43, -229E, and -HKU1. Unfortunately, none of them provide immunity and you can be reinfected.
There are only 3 other coronaviruses known to infect humans, MERS-COV, SARS-COV1 and now SARS-COV2. MERS provides immunity for a limited time for most (at least 10 months) and at least 18 months for those who had severe cases. SARS1 seems to produce an immune response much longer. Hopefully SARS2 does result in a long term immune response, but we don't know yet.
No.
There are only 3 other coronaviruses known to infect humans, ...
That sounds like a contradiction.
Are you sure?
Some viruses like the chickenpox and measles only come around once.
Maybe I just worded my post poorly. There are only 7 coronaviruses known to infect humans. 4 of them cause common cold, 1 causes MERS, 1 causes SARS and 1 causes COVID-19 (AKA SARS2).
There are many other viruses that ALSO cause common cold, but they are not coronaviruses. Most are rhinoviruses.
Thanks, that does add up a little better!
As for no immunity to “cold” viruses I don’t know what to think.
I haven’t had a cold in 47 years.
I never seem to get colds myself. Can’t say it’s been as long as you, but its been a couple decades since I had a cold or the flu. I know a lot of people, including my mom and sister, who get several colds a year. Supposedly the average adult get 2-4 a year.
like i’m going to take medical advice from “time” magazine ...
This article didn’t give medical advice.
I bet they extrapolating people that had false positives. Their tests were not as accurate as people portray. That was part of the problem with our first round of testers.
I am with you but the younger generation is getting exactly what they deserve.
Could have something to do with lifestyle. I haven’t had a cold or flu since before I can remember but my lifestyle is one of mostly staying home and puttering around.
I go food shopping once weekly and to local box store occasionally and that is it. Love reading and listening to music.
This lockdown has not altered my lifestyle one bit.
Recycling crap to keep everyone on their toes....
What is the link? I always wanted to be a doctor but my applications to med schools were always rejected.
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