So a man is reinfected?

[Spring1234]

What does this mean?

If people can get it twice then how is immunity happening?

Edited August 29, 2020 by Spring1234

[basil67]

Some context would be helpful.

[elaine567]

Quote

Two European patients are confirmed to have been re-infected with the coronavirus, raising questions over how long immunity to the virus lasts. 

The cases, in Belgium and the Netherlands, come a day after researchers in Hong Kong revealed that a 33-year-old man was re-infected with a different strain of the virus four and a half months after being declared recovered - the first such re-infection to be determined through genetic sequencing.
The |Telegraph

Also

Quote

 25-year-old man living in Reno, Nevada, who tested positive for the virus in April after showing mild illness. He got sick again in late May and developed more severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Reuters

They have proved different strains of the virus are involved in the Reno case too.
It is  uncommon so far, but it is still very early days with this virus.
I think a vaccine providing 10 year or life long immunity is probably not realistic.

Edited August 29, 2020 by elaine567
spacing

[BaileyB]

On 8/29/2020 at 2:18 AM, Spring1234 said:

If people can get it twice then how is immunity happening?

It may not be, and that may be the problem. Virus’ mutate and change all the time. This is one reason why they have never successful achieved a vaccine for things like HIV and the common cold. This is the worst case scenario for the corona virus - it mutates such that it’s not possible to have long term immunity, either because you’ve had it or because you’ve been vaccinated.

[introverted1]

Scientists have already said that they don't know if immunity lasts more than a couple of months. The theory is that, even if you are reinfected, the subsequent infection will be milder since your body has already mounted a defense once. Any vaccine is likely to be needed annually, similar to a flu vaccine.

 

 

[elaine567]

2 minutes ago, introverted1 said:

The theory is that, even if you are reinfected, the subsequent infection will be milder since your body has already mounted a defense once.

The Reno man got a more severe version of Covid-19 second time around...

[introverted1]

2 minutes ago, elaine567 said:

The Reno man got a more severe version of Covid-19 second time around...

Yeah, unlike the guy in Hong Kong. 

I think it's going to be quite a while before enough is known in the scientific community. They are still discovering new presenting symptoms.

From a policy perspective, we should be looking at how we can develop sustainable protocols for living with this virus rather than persisting with the belief that we can outrun it. In the US, we are 6 months in and have made no progress in figuring out how to balance impact of the disease against impacts of prevention.  That's where our efforts should be marshaled, imo.

[Eternal Sunshine]

There are currently 8 vaccine candidates in Phase 3 clinical trials. That's very good news and better than many have imagined. Some require a second booster few months later. It will likely be a yearly shot like the flu. For comparison, only 2 HIV vaccine candidates have ever gotten to Phase 3 (scientists were trying since 1987). So it's nothing like HIV.

I am not surprised at the reinfection. Virus is still running wild worldwide and the more hosts it infects, the more it has the chance to mutate. I expect with the vaccine, infection rate will decrease so we will end up getting a more stable strain.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Eternal Sunshine

[Woggle]

The vaccine might be similar to the flu vaccine in the sense that you need to get it every year. If that is the case then so be it.

[QuietRiot]

On 8/30/2020 at 12:08 PM, Eternal Sunshine said:

There are currently 8 vaccine candidates in Phase 3 clinical trials. That's very good news and better than many have imagined. Some require a second booster few months later. It will likely be a yearly shot like the flu. For comparison, only 2 HIV vaccine candidates have ever gotten to Phase 3 (scientists were trying since 1987). So it's nothing like HIV.

I am not surprised at the reinfection. Virus is still running wild worldwide and the more hosts it infects, the more it has the chance to mutate. I expect with the vaccine, infection rate will decrease so we will end up getting a more stable strain.

Unfortunately, some people will be damned to even touch that vaccine, for whatever reason. 😛

[CaliforniaGirl]

9 hours ago, QuietRiot said:

Unfortunately, some people will be damned to even touch that vaccine, for whatever reason. 😛

I will go for it, I'm pretty sure. If I can see the data trials then I will be in line (so to speak). I want to be out again...and asking people to cooperate isn't working. I'm tired of being punished because people want to act like petulant children. I want to live again.

[snowboy91]

What could still be the case is that the second infection could produce a longer lasting immune response. Or a second dose of the vaccine if that was to become available.

There's also this (scroll down to 17 August): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00502-w suggests that the presence of antibodies does protect from infection.

I also looked at the Iceland study at the top - it effectively says that 91% of recovered patients had antibodies... leaving 9% that didn't. It would stand to reason that that 9% would be susceptible to reinfection, and that would explain the cases we're seeing. My feeling is that if there was no immune protection at all, one would expect to see a lot more reinfection by now.