2019 Novel Coronavirus

[Road Guy]

article was pretty interesting, it said the second infection was asymptomatic? 

also the guy had been to Hong Kong, UK, and Spain in the recent weeks, and here I am feeling bad going to the mountains to get away from the kids for a weekend..

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

Also not an expert, but this is my understanding... 

Once you get any virus you can't get that same virus again.But there can be different strains of the same virus which means you can get it again if you catch a different strain. And many viruses mutate over time.That's why there's a "flu season" every year. The influenza virus has a regular mutation schedule of ~1 year. With the flu vaccine, they try to identify the 3 or 4 most common strains that year and create a vaccine to immunize you for specifically those strains. Which is why it's possible to get the flu shot and still get the flu, because you caught a different strain.Contrast that to chicken pox for example which is basically one and done. No various strains, no mutation, so you get it once and your immune forever.

Looks like our understanding is the same. Thanks!

 

[Tiger15]

From a vaccine standpoint, having multiple stable strains of the coronavirus would be much better than having a virus that mutates quickly.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

From a vaccine standpoint, having multiple stable strains of the coronavirus would be much better than having a virus that mutates quickly.

Agreed. Unfortunately, early indicators made it seem like COVID was fast-mutating. Which would be a problem.

 

[Orchid PE]

My parents were told they only have "immunity" for about 3 months after they recovered. After that they're open to getting sick again, because the virus mutates.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

My parents were told they only have "immunity" for about 3 months after they recovered. After that they're open to getting sick again, because the virus mutates.

I'm really curious about how that works. Is that the mutation rate of the virus?

 

[Orchid PE]

I'm really curious about how that works. Is that the mutation rate of the virus?

 Idk. I'm just a lowly engineer. I wish I knew more about the chemistries. 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

My parents were told they only have "immunity" for about 3 months after they recovered. After that they're open to getting sick again, because the virus mutates.

The headline literature on this is a bit misleading. The recent study(s) have shown that immunity last at least three months; which is not the same as saying that immunity expires at three months. The reasons for the three month timetable is because that's how long the researchers have only been able to reliably study those who were infected. It is possible, and likely, that the immunity will last longer but that can't be proven until people have been monitored for the same period of time. FWIW studies of SARS and MERS patients have shown that the antibodies stick around for many years.

*All this assumes that no major mutations occur. But of course the same can be said for most viruses. 

 

[Orchid PE]

The headline literature on this is a bit misleading. The recent study(s) have shown that immunity last at least three months; which is not the same as saying that immunity expires at three months. The reasons for the three month timetable is because that's how long the researchers have only been able to reliably study those who were infected. It is possible, and likely, that the immunity will last longer but that can't be proven until people have been monitored for the same period of time. FWIW studies of SARS and MERS patients have shown that the antibodies stick around for many years.

*All this assumes that no major mutations occur. But of course the same can be said for most viruses. 

I'm just reiterating what their doctors told them. I'm going with what the doctors say.

 

[kevo_55]

Enough of this serious stuff. Let's get this thread back on track.

 

[Orchid PE]

 

[Dleg]

I heard some discussion of the Hong Kong guy with the 2nd infection this morning. One talking point is that this is just one person - not exactly a robust case study in biostatistics. The other talking point was that he was asymptomatic with his second infection, so that might be an indicator that he does have some immunity that has resulted in a much milder case than his first.

Here is a great, positive read here from last week in the New York Times, summarizing some recent (peer reviewed) studies that suggest immunity may last far beyond the current 2-3 months that antibodies show up in blood samples:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/16/health/coronavirus-immunity-antibodies.html

 

[Orchid PE]

 

[Road Guy]

2 soon?

 

[Dleg]

 

[Dleg]

 

[Tiger15]

View attachment 18499

good advice

 

[Road Guy]

I cant stand golf, but one of my few pleasures this summer is on 5 occasions as I drove through the back of the neighborhood (Due to road construction) one of the tee boxes is right by the road, and well there is nothing like a well placed horn blast right as some boomer or frat boy home for the summer is about to tee off...

 

[Supe]

Even better is going golfing, and slicing so hard off the tee that you can hear the hole you just put in some guy's hardiplank siding echoing back from 100 yards away.

 

[Violator]

Walgreens