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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.If I’ve already had the coronavirus, can I get it again?
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A Johnson
No. All indications point to this being exceedingly rare - very insignificant probability.
A Johnson
To add to my post earlier - testing positive twice has occurred. Not getting sick. Those two studies were junk.
rdemers
These numbers can not reflect the exposure rate as they have no idea what any level of exposure is, especially since the subjects will now have a heightened concern about being infected again...
virusrex
Saying that the studies are wrong because they don't prove something they never meant to prove is not valid. The studies were trying to find rates of re-infection, that's it. A very big hint is that the whole article makes reference to the virus, not the disease.
The authors were not checking for signs of pathology but signs of the virus replicating again in the body, so they are fine with reporting exactly that. People can get reinfected very rarely as expected, and did not developed a clinical manifestation, this is a very useful thing to know.
Luddite
Those in the U.K. study are health workers, they get a very high level of exposure, even with PPE there is still a huge risk of infection and they must be the most concerned people in the country when it comes to Covid. Almost 700 health workers in the U.K. have died of Covid.
Raw Beer
Yeah, a few months ago it appeared that reinfections were indeed exceedingly rare.
But now with the new variants popping up, it does appear that "reinfections" (actually new infections) are a little more common, but still rare.
I suspect that with each "reinfection", the body (lymphocytes) should be better prepared to handle it.
1glenn
"It's possible, but such cases seem to be rare." Exactly, as with most illnesses.
Anecdotally, a neighbor was in a coma and intubated last March. He eventually went back to work, but complains of extreme fatigue and difficulty breathing. He told me that his oxygen saturation levels remain much lower than they should be, in the 60s. Seems hard to believe, but that is what he said. He is in his 50s. While he was in the Covid-19 ward, two people younger than he died.
You may have heard in the news that the Covid-19 outbreak here in Cali is very bad right now. My experience is that a lot more people are testing positive than ever before, here in the neighborhood, and relatives.
1glenn
Have been doing a lot of reading while sitting at home. About the annual flu, I read that the worst one in the last 100 years was the 1957 variant. I remember that one. I was so sick with it that I was out of school for two weeks. The teacher talked with my parents about repeating the semester, but it turned out it was unnecessary. So anyway, I remember being very sick and unable to get out of bed. I got the flu again last winter. Was very sick for 6 weeks from December to February. Had the worst chills of my life, which have returned over and over again, although not as severe. Was tested for the Covid-19 virus three times last year, always negative, but I still wonder if maybe I had it last winter.
SandyBeachHeaven
There are over 233 common cold viruses. You cannot get the same one twice. Same with this Corona. You cannot get it after you have had it once.
Txrogers
I would be careful with this one.
Can you catch a cold or influenza more than once ? Of course you can, because the viruses undergo seasonal mutations.
As we are now starting to witness with Covid-19. Why would it differ from other Corona virus behavior?
Sven Asai
Because of the stupidity to let the airports during a state of emergency open, a new variant has been successfully imported (B.1.1.248 , a mixing of those aggressive spreaders B117 and 501.V2) and that new one, you guess it, is known for possible multiple infections. It’s sheer unbelievable, how crazy this pandemic is handled all over the globe.
lostrune2
We don't know yet exactly how long the Covid-19 immunity lasts - the virus is still new
Hopefully the immunity lasts a long time - so we don't have to take the vaccine annually
That's a dangerous assumption - just because it works on some viruses doesn't mean all viruses are the same
For example: "Cold-Causing Coronaviruses Don’t Seem to Confer Lasting Immunity"
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/cold-causing-coronaviruses-dont-seem-to-confer-lasting-immunity-67832
The only way to be sure is to do real-world studies and tests. Do not assume