Can You Get Covid Again? It’s Very Unlikely, Experts Say- NY Times

[Senator Toadstool]

Can You Get Covid-19 Again? It’s Very Unlikely, Experts Say (Published 2020)

Reports of reinfection instead may be cases of drawn-out illness. A decline in antibodies is normal after a few weeks, and people are protected from the coronavirus in other ways.

www.nytimes.com

The anecdotes are alarming. A woman in Los Angeles seemed to recover from Covid-19, but weeks later took a turn for the worse and tested positive again. A New Jersey doctor claimed several patients healed from one bout only to become reinfected with the coronavirus. And another doctor said a second round of illness was a reality for some people, and was much more severe.

These recent accounts tap into people's deepest anxieties that they are destined to succumb to Covid over and over, feeling progressively sicker, and will never emerge from this nightmarish pandemic. And these stories fuel fears that we won't be able to reach herd immunity — the ultimate destination where the virus can no longer find enough victims to pose a deadly threat.

But the anecdotes are just that — stories without evidence of reinfections, according to nearly a dozen experts who study viruses. "I haven't heard of a case where it's been truly unambiguously demonstrated," said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Other experts were even more reassuring. While little is definitively known about the coronavirus, just seven months into the pandemic, the new virus is behaving like most others, they said, lending credence to the belief that herd immunity can be achieved with a vaccine.

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It may be possible for the coronavirus to strike the same person twice, but it's highly unlikely that it would do so in such a short window or to make people sicker the second time, they said. What's more likely is that some people have a drawn out course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after their initial exposure.

People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies. Several teams have recently reported that the levels of these antibodies decline in two to three months, causing some consternation. But a drop in antibodies is perfectly normal after an acute infection subsides, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University.

Many clinicians are "scratching their heads saying, 'What an extraordinarily odd virus that it's not leading to robust immunity,' but they're totally wrong,'" Dr. Mina said. "It doesn't get more textbook than this."

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Antibodies are not the only form of protection against pathogens. The coronavirus also provokes a vigorous defense from immune cells that can kill the virus and quickly rouse reinforcements for future battles. Less is known about how long these so-called memory T cells persist — those that recognize other coronaviruses may linger for life — but they can buttress defenses against the new coronavirus.

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Ms. Kent may not have fully recovered, even though she felt better, for example. The virus may have secreted itself into certain parts of the body — as the Ebola virus is known to do — and then resurfaced. She did not get tested between the two positives, but even if she had, faulty tests and low viral levels can produce a false negative.

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Given these more likely scenarios, Dr. Mina had choice words for the physicians who caused the panic over reports of reinfections. "This is so bad, people have lost their minds," he said. "It's just sensationalist click bait."

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More at the link. A good counter to the constant fear mongering about us forever living under covid. Listen to experts.

This is not a supervirus that's going to end civilization.

Also: wear a fucking mask (that covers your nose)

 

[Deleted member 9399]

I'll take any good news but I'm worried about headlines like this being taken by dumbasses as license to continue being reckless..

 

[Mgs2master2]

I must have a weak immune system or something because I did catch it twice. recovered once, about 2 months later I caught it again. It could be very possible that it never went away, just minimized and resurged, but Doctors basically told me I had it twice. I really don't know and there is too much unknown still with covid

 

[FriendlyNPC]

We have had millions of infected and the pandemic has been raging for months. If there was a chance of reinfection we'd have tons of confirmed cases at this point wouldn't we?

 

[XMonkey]

It's frustrating as hell seeing how poorly most media outlets report this stuff, particularly news on antibodies. I've got a lot of issues with the NYT, but good on them for this article.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

We have had millions of infected and the pandemic has been raging for months. If there was a chance of reinfection we'd have tons of confirmed cases at this point wouldn't we?

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You'd think so

 

[Doggg]

Finally some good news.

 

[TheGhost]

I know someone who got it twice. But perhaps it just never went away the first time.

 

[SPRidley]

I mean, the uncle of my mother catched it, was cured (and if this news is really true, that would be supposedly), then catched it again and died, so yeah I will get this with a pinch of salt.

 

[stew]

I'm not sure about the title of that article. Did people recently get reinfected by the virus? I guess it's not likely if we listen to scientists, though we don't have definitive evidence either way. Can you get it twice? I thought that we don't know how long the immunity last?

 

[Z-Beat]

You can

You probably won't again unless you got it the first time being an idiot and continue to be an idiot. That doesn't mean being safe exempts you from getting it again but your chances of getting it twice are pretty low. Just be smart and safe

 

[shadowhaxor]

Interesting.... yet there have been reports that even some of those who have treated patients have gotten covid-19 twice now. In fact, there was a story about one just recently.

Doctor reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after recovering - New York Post - Health News

A doctor in Israel has reportedly been reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after her first bout with the coronavirus. While there have been several reports of reinfection of COVID-19 globally, the news comes amid ongoing uncertainty in the scientific community about whether long-term...

ahealthynews.com

 

[Dremorak]

Fauci himself said yes its possible to get anything twice, but its extremely unlikely, and due to the fact that 99% of cases end up immune, its not a very high concern.

 

[FriendlyNPC]

People need to realize that "recovered" just means they didn't test positive anymore. Repeated cases could be flawed testkits, flawed test methodology, tests not being able to pick up the virus if it migrates to/attacks different organs, etc. There are many different scenarios in which you might end up not testing positive despite still having the virus inside of you in some capacity.

 

[thesoapster]

Given enough time, sure? But like, I'm so mad at the fucking CDC with all this shit that basically says antibody testing is useless, etc. They're so bad, and my conspiracy theory is it's 100% on purpose.

 

[JCizzle]

Interesting.... yet there have been reports that even some of those who have treated patients have gotten covid-19 twice now. In fact, there was a story about one just recently.

Doctor reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after recovering - New York Post - Health News

A doctor in Israel has reportedly been reinfected with COVID-19 — three months after her first bout with the coronavirus. While there have been several reports of reinfection of COVID-19 globally, the news comes amid ongoing uncertainty in the scientific community about whether long-term...

ahealthynews.com

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I think the point that are making is you can't draw widespread conclusions from very small sample sizes.