Is it possible to be re-infected with coronavirus
Educational Program Health / / December 28, 2020
Like any psychologically challenging topic, the story of the pandemic keeps people going through five stages of experience that became popular thanks to Dr.House: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, Adoption.
Denial (“No virus exists!”) And anger (“Take off your masks, why are you scaring people ?!”), many have already passed. They are followed by the bargaining stage.
On forums and social networks, users share with each other details of what they think are unusual ARVI, suffered last winter: with high unbreakable temperature, weakness, headache, obsessive cough - in in general, all symptoms COVID-19.
All this gives people hope. Like, if I have been ill, it means that immunity has already developed and I will not get infected with the coronavirus again.
Lifehacker explains why you shouldn't be so confident.
Could it be that many have already been ill
Yes, absolutely. This version is adhered to not only by the regulars of social networks, but also by some serious scientific and government structures. For example, representatives of the University of Oxford.
Professor of theoretical epidemiology Sunetra Gupta, along with colleagues at the end of March put forward a versionFundamental principles of epidemic spread highlight the immediate need for large-scale serological surveys to assess the stage of the SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 epidemicthat the coronavirus infected up to half of the UK population in winter. But supposedly most of the citizens had been asymptomatic or mildly ill, like the usual ARVI, and now the country already has “herd immunity”. This means that tough quarantine measures that are killing the economy may be weakened.
True, the Oxford study has yet to undergo scientific peer review. In addition, its results have been challenged by other scientists. However, this bold scientific work has borne fruit.
The Guardian reportsMatt Hancock: 3.5m coronavirus test kits on way to NHSthat the UK government has already purchased 3.5 million test kits. The goal is to conduct a large-scale serological study of the country's population to find out how many people are already immune to COVID-19.
Other states are also starting to move along the same path. Germany plansHZI coordinates project on the prevalence of coronavirus antibodies to make tests of 100 thousand people to try to find antibodies to coronavirus infection in their blood. Based on the test results, people who are found to be immune to COVID-19 may begin to issue a kind of certificates confirming their safety for society. Such people will be able to leave quarantine and return to work earlier than others.
USA also hopesTesting coronavirus survivors' blood could help reopen U.S. create test systems that will identify citizens who are immune to coronavirus.
The theory really looks great. But there's a problem.
Is it possible to be re-infected with coronavirus
It is not excluded. Doctors still do not know how strong and complete the formed immunity to COVID-19 is. They have only indirect data at their disposal. And they are very contradictory.
So, a small study of another coronavirus, which also causes the common cold, showedThe time course of the immune response to experimental coronavirus infection of man: People may be re-infected after a year, but their symptoms will be milder.
Scientists have studiedDuration of Antibody Responses after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the closest relative of the Wuhan coronavirus, the atypical pneumonia virus (SARS). It turned out that IgG immunoglobulins - the very antibodies associated with stable immunity - appeared in the blood of the sick 21-30 days after the first symptoms and persisted for at least 2 years.
A recent study was conductedReinfection could not occur in SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 infected rhesus macaques on macaques. Chinese scientists infected the animals with SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2, and then, when they were ill and fully recovered, they injected the same virus again. This time, the macaques had almost no symptoms, and antibodies to coronavirus were found in their blood. This study has not been peer reviewed, but it looks promising and optimistic. But there is also a fly in the ointment.
The Chinese edition of the South China Morning Post reportsUp to 10 per cent of recovered coronavirus patients in Wuhan study tested positive later, doctors saythat up to 10% of Wuhan patients with coronavirus seem to have re-infected later. Tests for COVID-19, which were negative upon recovery, then re-tested positive after a week and a half.
The facts of reinfection still require rechecking: it may well turn out that some tests were simply flawed and gave a false result. However, there is another explanation.
Even if antibodies appear in your blood, this does not necessarily mean that you are immune to the disease. It is necessary to assess whether the antibodies provide an adequate level of protection. There is no exact information on this matter today.Testing coronavirus survivors' blood could help reopen U.S..
Elitza Theel, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic
In general, it is far from a fact that antibodies to the SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 coronavirus appear at the same time and are as stable as antibodies to the SARS causative agent. Immunity to COVID-19 may be longer. Or, on the contrary, it may turn out to be short-term - such that you can easily catch a dangerous coronavirus infection again, having recovered from it just a couple of weeks ago.
It remains only to repeat the theses, which have been voiced for almost three months in a rowSituation Summary experts from the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): we still do not know much about SARS-CoV-2. The data is updated and changed literally every day. Therefore, it is important to be careful and observe the self-isolation regime.
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