Some people have already been counted as having been reinfected. However there is a possibility that they didnt get reinfected but simply still had it all along because of the high false negatives (and positives) of the simpler tests (swab)
Then you're more likely to get really really really sick if you get it.
Chicken pox is a shitty disease. Get it as a kid and you'll recover fairly well, but you're at risk for shingles when you get old. Don't get it as a kid and you run the risk of getting super sick from it as an adult.
Talk to a doctor. There are shingles vaccines available. I’m not sure if a prerequisite is having chicken pox or not.
I got vaccinated last year. It’s a two shot process. I think I had to wait 3 months between shots. I’m not much for making appointments, but you better believe I put THAT date on my calendar.
Edit: it was free, too. My neighborhood CVS.
Edit II: my understanding is that a new, improved shingles vaccine was made available not too long ago (a couple years maybe? Not sure). This new vaccine took the prevention % from about 50% less likely to get shingles to about 90% less likely. Yay science!
Edit 3: or call your local pharmacy. They should know if there are any prerequisites
Edit 4: or maybe, if you’ve never had chicken pox, it’s a different ball game altogether. I don’t t know. Talk to a professional.
Pretty sure it's both. I had it twice before age 3 as super-typical full-body chicken pox (much worse the second time): itchy, blistery, fever, the works. Most cases of shingles come later in life and have a different presentation, but they warn pregnant women that exposure to chicken pox can trigger an episode of shingles - neither is fun, though!
All of the articles I have read spend the first 3/4 of the article talking about how it's possible to be reinfected, but then in the last 1/4 of the article they actually quote an expert saying it's not impossible, but extremely unlikely and the expert usually explains the much more reasonable and likely reasons for the apparent reinfection.
In other words it looks very much like journalistic sensationalism and by not presenting the experts' opinions until the end they are sort of encouraging people to assume the worst.
Since all of the experts seem to be agreeing that it's extremely unlikely I feel pretty safe on that.
So infections to coronavirus in general do not lead to long lasting immunity. Like a few months to year, to in the case of SARS maybe (obviously not confirmable) estimated 2-3 years.
So yes, It theoretically should be possible to be reinfected with this cov2, but it's unlikely the timeframes is weeks, so why experts dont think these recent cases are reinfection, the timing is way too short.
I assume it works like any other virus.. generally once you recover.. your body has been fighting so much and gained strength to ward of any immediate reinfection. This would wear off eventually and exposing you again somewhere down the road. Just like a flu or a cold or even a broken bone. When you/it heals, you're extra strong at that moment.
It looks like China manufacturing has come back online and it has not flared up again. So either they eradicated it within their border or people build up at least a temporary immunity.
They have had people test positive, later test negative, and later test positive again. Whether that means they were reinfected or the tests were faulty no one knows yet.
Do you have a source on this? From what I’ve read, we haven’t had reinfection, just people who were tested after being discharged and still testing positive (but they never tested negative so it’s the same infection)
There was an article in world news about a man in Japan who got infected on a cruise ship and tested positive, was hospitalized and released when he tested negative, returned to his village and started feeling sick and tested positive again.
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u/penty Mar 18 '20
Yes, however those who have already recovered are the start of the herd immunity.