Health Editor’s Note: We have heard the term ‘herd immunity’ used before this current coronavirus pandemic. Now the concept crops up again in theories as to how COVID-19 can be contained. Herd immunity is simply when a population becomes immune to an infectious disease and then provides indirect protection (herd immunity or herd protection) to those who are not immune to the disease.
Herd immunity has been accomplished for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox because there are vaccines for most of the population to take. With coronavirus, there is no vaccine, thus no way to develop an immunity other than to contract the virus and we are seeing that any immunity the body may have to COVID-19, after being sick with the virus, does not seem to last. So, we are not getting protection for the unaffected, because the previously infected can be reinfected…..Carol
My patient caught Covid-19 twice. So long to herd immunity hopes?
by D.Clay Ackerly/Vox
“Wait. I can catch Covid twice?” my 50-year-old patient asked in disbelief. It was the beginning of July, and he had just tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, for a second time — three months after a previous infection.
While there’s still much we don’t understand about immunity to this new illness, a small but growing number of cases like his suggest the answer is yes.
Covid-19 may also be much worse the second time around. During his first infection, my patient experienced a mild cough and sore throat. His second infection, in contrast, was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath, and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital.
Recent reports and conversations with physician colleagues suggest my patient is not alone. Two patients in New Jersey, for instance, appear to have contracted Covid-19 a second time almost two months after fully recovering from their first infection. Daniel Griffin, a physician and researcher at Columbia University in New York, recently described a case of presumed reinfection on the This Week in Virology podcast.
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.
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Rob,
I seldom remove comments but I have removed two of yours. They are spam. You are a troll. Next is to ban your IP.
I deleted it because we simply don’t need morons claiming the virus is a hoax. If you want to do that, go somewhere were they actively promote that sort of thing. Here, we tell the truth and if you’re a moron for believing covid-19 is a hoax, then this isn’t the place for you. Most of the asshats we have had here claiming it is a hoax have been paid trolls, the same pricks who have spent years pushing, that nukes are a hoax, that spaceflight is impossible, that vaccines are bad and now, covid-19 is a hoax. So are you another of these paid trolls or just a gullible moron?
The concept and implementation of an allowed spread leading to herd immunity was first promoted by Britain and quickly adopted by Trump. Britain was the last country to be allowed to fly into NY.
It was quite simply, monetary greed placed over the lives of the people. Britain cannot be trusted. The second part of the op, was to convince people the virus was a hoax and masks do not help. NY state has proven the masks slow the spread way down.
Are there any pre-existing examples of viruses for which human immunoglobulin does not provide lasting immunity, and for which a vaccine provides the only lasting immunity?
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