One reason for posting this question is to hope that by following this question it is possible to keep up on developments pertaining to this question.
An article in a health magazine, Stat, by Sharon Begley, Experts envision two scenarios if the new coronavirus isn’t contained, suggests the answer for now is, not sure.
An article in Lancet, Nowcasting and forecasting the potential domestic and international spread of the 2019-nCoV outbreak originating in Wuhan, China: a modelling study, by Prof. Joseph T. Wu, Kathy Leung, and Prof. Gabriel M Leung, remarks in the discussion portion of their paper that `independent self-sustaining human-to-human spread is already present in multiple Chinese cities’ including global transport hubs. This suggests that containing, confining and eliminating COVID-19 as a pervasive and ongoing infectious disease might not be possible.
If infected people do not acquire immunity, that affects calculations of the ongoing spread of COVID-19. For example, if 70% of a population catches COVID-19 and most survive, then the size of the group that COVID -19 could newly infect would be smaller. In that way, over time, as the number of people who survive the disease increases, the rate of new infections might decline because there would be fewer people without acquired immunity. I wonder what epidemiology says? These issues also affect hopes for a vaccine.
Regardless of what the immunity situation is, it seems to be that there should be a permanent cultural shift away from greetings such as handshakes and kissing.
Take a look at this useful link.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/03/15/can-you-get-infected-by-coronavirus-twice-how-does-covid-19-immunity-work/#3a8652705c0f
Theoretically, once people are infected with Coronavirus, their body will produce antibody to against it. But, not sure how long this produced antibody can stay in our body. If no more antibody left, I bet we can be infected the second time. Hopefully, we already have stable and potent vaccine by them.
This question posted March 10, 2020, Is it possible to catch COVID-19 twice? was directed to the hope that acquired immunity might slow down community spread because there would be fewer susceptible potential targets of the virus.
I missed a concern though. If the virus can reinfect a person, the reinfection might find a person with a compromised immune system or lungs already compromised by the initial infection. I don't know anything medical. Is that possible, is it possible that a second viral attack could be against a weakened victim? (Praying that is not the case.)
Some anecdotal newspaper accounts report possible cases of reinfection: New York Times, Apoorva Mandavilli They Recovered From the Coronavirus. Were They Infected Again? Feb. 29, 2020 Los Angeles times, March 13, 2020, by Alice Su, They recovered from the coronavirus then they tested positive again; Daily Mail, March 13, 2020, article-8029679/Recovered-coronavirus-patient-tests-positive-10-days-self-isolation.
Not only newspaper accounts.
The Journal of the American Medical Association on February 27, 2020 published a research letter, Positive RT-PCR Test Results in Patients Recovered From COVID-19.
The situation is uncertain, since there do not appear to be large systematic studies, and so far the possibility of error in some component of the testing has not been ruled out. Lan L, Xu D, Ye G, et al. Positive RT-PCR Test Results in Patients Recovered From COVID-19. JAMA. Published online February 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.2783
Michael Levitt won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He commented
“It will end when all those who are sick will only meet people they have already infected." Source:
https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/03/13/corona-is-slowing-down-humanity-will-survive-says-biophysicist-michael-levitt/
He is assuming immunity can be acquired by infection. Let's hope that assumption is valid.
Take a look at this useful link.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/03/15/can-you-get-infected-by-coronavirus-twice-how-does-covid-19-immunity-work/#3a8652705c0f
Dear Dr. Shour
I am afraid I have to say yes, one can get infected, ( COVID) 19 it is an RNA virus that can mutat giving no immunity whatsoever
Dear Colleagues and Friends from RG, Covid-19 coronavirus can be infected more than once like any other virus that does not choose a living organism to attack, but attacks all living organisms that are at an appropriate distance, unsuccessfully or effectively. Of course, if a living organism has a strong immune system and / or does not meet the requirements for an effective attack by the virus, i.e. ending in infection, then the virus attack remains ineffective in this situation, i.e. it does not cause infection or disease.
It is now known that Covid-19 Coronavirus is highly contagious and the level of mortality in the infected group is several times higher than the level of mortality that occurred with the action of various influenza strains in previous winter seasons, in previous years. In addition, Covid-19 Coronavirus is highly resistant to temperature changes. Covid-19 coronavirus becomes less active only at 26-27 degrees C.
On the other hand, many data indicate that a person who has been cured of Covid-19 acquires natural immunity and should not get sick twice, but still 100%. this is not confirmed due to the lack of sufficient amount of verified data. In addition, it cannot be excluded that this virus will mutate in such a direction that it will cause a different kind of disease and then theoretically it would be possible to get sick again a slightly different disease.
Covid-19 coronavirus in context with many other types of viruses that previously caused various diseases and epidemics in humans is characterized by a relatively high level of infectivity and mortality. Limiting the level of contagiousness and mortality at the moment (mid-March 2020) is possible mainly by maintaining certain rules of safety and hygiene, including frequent washing of hands with the use of detergents. In many countries where the Coronavirus Covid-19 epidemic is still developing nowadays, recommendations are legally sanctioned not to leave the home unless it is particularly necessary, such as buying food and / or medicine.
In my country, the government even recommends people who feel unwell, who detect symptoms of a cold, e.g. cough, runny nose, fever or other symptoms of a cold or flu, to stay at home, not to go out and go to the hospital alone, but to they called the hospital or specially appointed medical services to first consult a doctor by phone or via the Internet. The idea is not to leave the house without a serious and justified reason, not to infect other people, not to infect medical services, including doctors, nurses and other health care personnel, because if there are not enough healthy doctors, nurses and other personnel Health care is a pandemic problem Coronavirus Covid-19 will be much, many times larger. Therefore, I also join these recommendations and recommend to the community, to the citizens of countries where many people have already been infected with this virus: If you can, stay at home.
Best wishes.
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Robert Shour See this new report here: "COVID-19 reinfection is not a concern, monkey study suggests".
"As if that weren’t enough to worry about, the surfacing of multiple personal accounts—primarily out of China and Japan—of patients who recovered after infection only to fall ill a second time, have some worried about the possibility of reinfection. Now, a collaboration of Chinese scientists has dug deeper into whether or not reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 is possible with a small monkey study. The team looked at whether or not non-human primates, rhesus macaques, can become reinfected with SARS-CoV-2. The work was posted on the preprint server bioRxiv on March 14 in a paper titled, “Reinfection could not occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected rhesus macaques.” Their conclusion: there may be no reason to worry about reinfection."
Source: https://www.genengnews.com/news/covid-19-reinfection-not-a-concern-monkey-study-suggests/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=GEN+Daily+News+Highlights&utm_content=01&utm_campaign=GEN+Daily+News+Highlights_20200323&oly_enc_id=8464I0071034B8S
Raya Al-Naimi Indeed, RNA viruses are prone to mutations. But, immunity still can be generated (natural induced or artificial induced) to fight this disease. For example, Influenza (or flu) viruses are RNA viruses. Flu vaccines are made ready for human immunization each year. If RNA viruses are prone to mutate, and immunity cannot be generated later, then there is no vaccines needed to be developed. However, vaccines of COVID-19 virus is under development.
Raya Al-Naimi Here is a paper for you about 'virus mutation', published in Nature Microbiology. It might interests you. Free access. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0690-4
Title: We shouldn’t worry when a virus mutates during disease outbreaks
- Nathan D. Grubaugh,
- Mary E. Petrone &
- Edward C. Holmes
Nature Microbiology volume 5, pages 529–530(2020)
"Mutation. The word naturally conjures fears of unexpected and freakish changes. Ill-informed discussions of mutations thrive during virus outbreaks, including the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2. In reality, mutations are a natural part of the virus life cycle and rarely impact outbreaks dramatically."
It was recently published that about 14.5% can be reinfected.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.26.20044222v1
This is possible if the coronavirus causing Covid-19 disease quickly mutates and creates new types of strains, different enough that the body's resistance to the first version of the Coronavirus will not provide the same resistance to the next new version of the Coronavirus.
Regards
Dariusz Prokopowicz
There are some cases in my country reporting the possibility of catching the Covid 19 twice.
Scientific American, article, April 10, 2020, What Immunity to COVID-19 Really Means, By Stacey McKenna.
`Although most people with SARS-CoV-2 seem to produce antibodies, “we simply don’t know yet what it takes to be effectively protected from this infection,” says Dawn Bowdish, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine and Canada Research Chair in Aging and Immunity at McMaster University in Ontario.'
National Post newspaper, April 14, 2020:
Can COVID-19 infect you twice? Mystery cases show how little is known about the virus
From the article:
“If someone has had a natural infection, it’s likely that they would be immune, at least in the short term,” Loeb said. “It’s not proven, though. We’re dealing with likelihoods right now. Is it likely? I think it’s likely. Is it certain? No.”
Please also take a look at this link.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.13.990226v1.full.pdf
Yes, there is already published case report on this
Recurrence of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA in COVID-19: A case report
Int J Infect Dis. 2020;93:297–299.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.003
PMCID: PMC7129213 PMID: 32147538
Yes, the above links and information of our RG friends are available/useful to get clear idea.
https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/immunity-passports-in-the-context-of-covid-19
"Immunity passports" in the context of COVID-19. April 24, 2020.
" There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection. "
Let's hope that changes.
Yes it is possible. The second infection can be due to reactivation of the SARS-COV-2 to which the patient was infected, reinfection by a mutant virus, or concomitant infection by multiple SARS-COV-2 strains.
It is important to follow the clinical status, and contagiousness of such patients to know more about such cases of COVID-19.
You may follow the link below:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_people_who_recover_from_Covid-19_become_reinfected
A very helpful article posted May 7, 2020 brought to my attention on May 11, 2020 by BP is by Professor Erin Bromage a Comparative Immunologist and Professor of Biology (specializing in Immunology) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The article is The Risks - Know Them - Avoid Them. The article summarizes, among other things, information about degrees of exposure. Since science is still learning about COVID-19 one should take into account that Dr. Bromage’s information may update from time to time. He has received much praise following the About the Author link in his article.
The link is:
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200511&instance_id=18384&nl=the-morning®i_id=107843590&segment_id=27239&te=1&user_id=e9f50d99624c5dd2535b157efa75972d
Well worth reading (or reading twice). Kudos to Dr. Bromage.
Still not known at May 11, 2020. See:
COVID-19 and Postinfection Immunity Limited Evidence, Many Remaining Questions
By Robert D. Kirkcaldy, Brian A. King, John T. Brooks
doi:10.1001/jama.2020.7869
From the article:
"whether immunity occurs among individuals after they have recovered from COVID-19 is uncertain"
"definitive data on postinfection immunity are lacking."
You might know that these types of cases has already been observed recently. Thank you.
Currently there is “no evidence” that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second coronavirus infection.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/no-evidence-recovered-covid-19-patients-cannot-be-reinfected-who-1671116-2020-04-25
Science 20 May 2020:eabc4776DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4776
SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques
by Abishek Chandrashekar,, Jinyan Liu, Amanda J. Martinot, Katherine McMahan et al (many authors listed).
From the abstract: " Anamnestic immune responses following rechallenge suggested that protection was mediated by immunologic control. These data show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induced protective immunity against re-exposure in nonhuman primates."
Please have a look at the following link:
Article Risk of reactivation or reinfection of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
CDC May 26, 2020
Article: Serologic methods have been developed and will have important public health and clinical uses to monitor and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
From the article's interim guidelines:
“until the durability and duration of immunity is established, it cannot be assumed that individuals with truly positive antibody test results are protected from future infection.”
A person recovering from COVID 19 are not totally immune and have a chance of getting second infection though they have developed antibodies. WHO has reported that till now there is no evidence that people recovered from COVID 19 are immunized and protected from a second infection. However, human body can be protected from reinfection at least for a short time.
Nature magazine article, July 3, 2020
Nature 583, 178-179 (2020) doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01989-z
Six months of coronavirus: the mysteries scientists are still racing to solve From immunity to the role of genetics, Nature looks at five pressing questions about COVID-19 that researchers are tackling.
By Ewen Callaway, Heidi Ledford & Smriti Mallapaty
The five questions in the article:
(1) Why do people respond so differently?
(2) What’s the nature of immunity and how long does it last?
(3) Has the virus developed any worrying mutations?
(4) How well will a vaccine work?
(5) What is the origin of the virus?
At this time, it is not really clear how long neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 last after one recovers from a natural infection. Also the presence of neutralizing antibodies do not always suggest immunity. There have been a few anecdotal reports of individuals getting reinfected after recovering from Covid-19. The duration of immune protection after a natural infection may depend on many factors including the age, co-morbidities and severity of disease. At this time we should all assume that whatever immunity from SARS-CoV-2 is gained is not guaranteed and probably very short-term.
Kirkcaldy, Robert D., Brian A. King, and John T. Brooks. "COVID-19 and Post-infection Immunity: Limited Evidence, Many Remaining Questions." Jama 323.22 (2020): 2245-2246.
Wiersinga WJ, Prescott HC.
What Is COVID-19?
JAMA. Published online July 10, 2020.
doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12984
Concluding remark: "Scientists do not know if people can have COVID-19 more than once, but repeat infection may be possible, particularly for people with mild symptoms during their initial infection."
New York Times article July 22, 2020.
Can You Get Covid-19 Again? It’s Very Unlikely, Experts Say
Second title line: 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.
By Apoorva Mandavilli
Discover magazine online July 31 2020
Can You Get COVID-19 Twice? Scientists Say It’s Too Early to Tell
Recovery from the virus seems to stimulate protective immunity, but there’s not enough data to determine how long that protection lasts.
By Allison Whitten
BBC News 24 August 2020
Coronavirus immunity: Can you catch it twice? By James Gallagher Health and science correspondent
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52446965
Prof. Akiko Iwasaki August 24, 2020 Twitter
A first case of #COVID19 reinfection from HKU, with distinct virus genome sequences in 1st and 2nd infection (142 days apart). Kudos to the scientists for this study.
COVID-19 re-infection by a phylogenetically distinct SARS-coronavirus-2 strain confirmed by whole genome sequencing
Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciaa1275, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1275
Published: 25 August 2020
Science
Some people can get the pandemic virus twice, a study suggests. That is no reason to panic
By Kai Kupferschmidt Aug. 24, 2020 , 5:25 PM
doi:10.1126/science.abe4802
US Center for Disease Control Convention (CDC) has reported that after getting cured from COVID-19, antibody remains in a person's body for a period of three months, during which he/she will be safe from another attack. But after three months there is a possibility of being attacked by SARS-CoV-2 virus for the second time.
Yes, there is evidence of getting infections twice.
Though possibility of reinfection with different strains was always there, there was a lack of evidence even a few months back. Now reinfection is documented.
Nature magazine.
What the immune response to the coronavirus says about the prospects for a vaccine 17 August 2020
Secondary heading: Viral immunologists say that results so far have been predictable — here’s why that’s good news. By Heidi Ledford
doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-02400-7
From the article:
... virologist Katie Doores of King’s College London, lead author of one of the antibody studies, says that the negative press coverage of her work caught her off guard. “Everyone seems to have gone ‘Argh!’,” she says. “But we don’t know what level of antibodies are needed for protection.”
Lessons learnt from other viruses also give reasons to be optimistic that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 will be lasting. T cells against the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have been found 17 years after infection7. Also, SARS-CoV-2 does not seem to mutate as rapidly as the influenza viruses, notes Barreiro, which change so frequently that fresh vaccination is needed each year.
Nature magazine
Coronavirus reinfections: three questions scientists are asking 4 September 2020
Second infections raise questions about long-term immunity to COVID-19 and the prospects for a vaccine.
Nature 585, 168-169 (2020) doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-02506-y
Science magazine article, first release 14 October, 2020.
Will SARS-CoV-2 become endemic?
By Jeffrey Shaman, Marta Galanti
DOI: 10.1126/science.abe5960
From the article:
A duration of immunity similar to that of the other betacoronaviruses (~40 weeks) could lead to yearly outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2, whereas a longer immunity profile, coupled with a small degree of protective cross-immunity from other betacoronaviruses, could lead to apparent elimination of the virus followed by resurgence after a few years.
Science 28 Oct 2020
Robust neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 infection persist for months
By Ania Wajnberg. Fatima Amanat et al.
From the abstract:
... the vast majority of infected individuals with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 experience robust IgG antibody responses against the viral spike protein, based on a dataset of 30,082 individuals screened at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. We also show that titers are relatively stable for at least a period approximating 5 months ...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Medicine
- Epidemiology