From Good Housekeeping
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According to officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 is twice as possible, but reinfection is extremely rare.
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Scientists are still investigating how long the natural immunity lasts on average and how COVID-19 antibodies can prevent further infection; one study estimates a range of 8 months increased immunity.
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New coronavirus variants could pose a threat to those who recovered from COVID-19 earlier in 2020.
For health experts, there are still so much about learning the new coronavirus – but if one thing’s certain, it’s that COVID-19 infections are developing this winter due to brand new strains that experts have never seen before. With more than 24 million COVID-19 cases reported in the United States over the past 11 months, some wonder if this new variant could cause re-infection, even if they first pushed past the disease. As standard with most of our questions about COVID-19, there is no simple answer – but the shortest is that the variants, old and new, can indeed make you sick again. Getting COVID-19 twice is possible, but it’s more complicated (and rare!) Than you think.
Scientists are rapidly identifying new variants that are spreading around the world. One of the earliest COVID-19 variations has been identified in the UK, but is not as troublesome to experts as other strains, mainly a variant known as B.1.351, with origins largely traced back to South Africa. According to officials from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), there are three other variants marked because they could spread too fast, and scientists are concerned that these strains may mutate further to influence the vaccination efforts, CNN reports. But the variant that was first detected in South Africa has already shown signs that it can overtake any immunity granted to humans, either because they have already been ill or received a vaccine.
“These variants are getting smarter; they’re just adapting to grow better in humans … even without adapting to the vaccine,” he says. Nelson Michael, Managing Director., the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. ‘The thing that worries me about this variant [discovered in South Africa] because it became better to repeat, it also happened to develop the kinds of properties that make it less susceptible to monoclonal antibodies we developed, some therapies and tools, such as vaccines, to prevent infection. ‘
But Michael says most health experts are confident that vaccinations will stop the spread of all COVID-19 variants. Early data suggest that a complete vaccination provides enough antibodies to fight a variety of variants, as reported by the Guardian, but more importantly, Dr. Michael explains that vaccine manufacturers are already actively adapting their vaccines for the near future to better respond to specific variants.
Is it possible to get infected again with COVID-19?
Yes, but it’s likely to happen Rare. In the current CDC language it is said that ‘re-infection with COVID-19 has been reported but remains rare’ in general. Re-infection means that you successfully overcame COVID-19 at some point, fully recovered, and tested negative for an active SARS-CoV-2 infection, before re-acquiring the virus (even if you do not show symptoms) not). Many experts, including those at the CDC, claim that confirmed re-infections are very rare – but the problem here may be that healthcare providers have difficulty determining when the first infection is over and when a second one starts.
“For almost every doctor who cares for COVID patients, questions have been asked as to whether some of their patients did have second infections,” explains William Schaffner, Managing Director., the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, adding that most data suggest natural immunity lasts at least 6 months. “But sometimes there are people who, even within six months, think they’ve been infected twice – they do, but we just do not have enough scientific information to confirm that a second infection has occurred.”
What is clear, however, is that anyone who has immunity – whether because they recovered directly from COVID-19 or received a vaccine – must continue with preventive measures not to become ill twice. Both doctors agree: Immunity and the antibodies produced by an infection do not make you invincible, but can help your body ward off smaller, targeted amounts of SARS-CoV-2 should you encounter it again.
How long does COVID-19 immunity last? Will it protect me from new tribes?
Like many other aspects of this disease, scientists are still investigating to determine a fixed time frame of how long antibodies are active in those infected with SARS-CoV-2. One particular study may provide some insight into a future definitive answer, despite the fact that it has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Researchers have confirmed the antibody in more than 180 cases of COVID-19 and monitored it over time. The findings suggest that antibodies and other immunity were significant up to eight months from the first infection, but did discover some variation in the number of antibodies produced between individuals. It is unclear why it has been observed that some individuals have higher antibody counts than in others.
If you talk so much about the new COVID-19 variant, you may be wondering if a mutated version of SARS-CoV-2 can make any earned immunity ineffective? Although it has not been largely documented, says dr. Michael it is possible, and that your second case of COVID-19 may be largely different from the first.
“Being infected with a new strain may be something you may not notice at first because you have enough immunity to fight virtually all the side effects of the second infection,” he explains, adding that these infections can be completely undiagnosed. . “Not to mention, it’s great – because you can pass it on to someone who is very susceptible to any stress.”
The best way to avoid a second infection is to be constantly vigilant about social distance, hand hygiene and wearing masks when you are in public – and when it’s time, to receive a vaccine. You will probably continue to receive new vaccines as new variants develop in the future, explains dr. Schaffner.
“It seems that current vaccines can prevent serious diseases, even if you are dealing with a known variant. So there will be at least partial protection,” he adds, using the annual flu shot as an example. . “We have to reconfigure that vaccine annually, and even if you get the flu after taking the vaccine, it is almost always a milder case, one that is less severe.”
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