Four members of a Nebraska family have been re-infected with the new coronavirus.
For the second time in recent months, Chuck Conboy sr. (67) of Papillion that his family suffered from a COVID-19 infection. Conboy, his wife and two sons all contracted the virus in November, but have fully recovered. Nine weeks later, everyone started experiencing symptoms of the disease again and later tested positive for a second time, he said.
“I woke up … and had a fever. It jumped to 102 degrees, which is high for me. I thought, ‘Oh, my God, not again,'” he told local news station KETV of the second infection.
“It hit me just like a truck, and this time it knocked me down. It’s actually the first day – day nine – that I’m halfway normal again. If you were to ask me yesterday, I did not ‘even know’ where I was not, ‘he added.
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Conboy said the symptoms of the virus appear faster the second time compared to the first, noting that his sense of taste and smell disappear immediately.
“[My] temperature just immediately shot up higher, and it was not just me. It was the whole family, ‘said Conboy.
Scientists are still studying the immunity to the virus after infection, with a study from November, which is the most comprehensive to date, finding that immunity can last longer than six months. Meanwhile, a UK study published last month came to a similar conclusion and found that immunity can last five months or longer.
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There are still studies going on regarding immunity, with dr. Mark Rupp, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine, said that while rare, re-infections are possible, with those who have only had a mild fall the first time, possibly at greatest risk for a second infection. .
“This may be one of the explanations, that people with a very mild illness do not have such a powerful immunological response and do not respond so long,” Rupp told KETV.