3 ms·
All signs point to the coronavirus infection inducing normal immunity. The number of apparent reinfection is extraordinarily low, consistent with being due to t
by jessriedel 7y ago
All signs point to the coronavirus infection inducing normal immunity. The number of apparent reinfection is extraordinarily low, consistent with being due to testing error, and in any case not relevant even if real if it only applies to a small fraction of the population. Furthermore, the virus does not have a segmented genome like influenza (thought to be responsible for its rapid evolution and ability to evade vaccine) and is a single "species" (unlike the huge family of viruses, mostly rhinoviruses, that cause the unvaccinable common cold).
- wiremine 7y agoThat's great news. Got any links to the data?
- jessriedel 7y agoI just found some strong counter evidence in tension with everything I'd been hearing: Francois Balloux (Computational biologist, director of UGI at UCL): "How long immunity lasts for following covid-19 infection is the biggest unknown. Comparison with other Coronaviridae suggests it may be relatively short-lived (i.e. months). If this were to be confirmed, it would add to the challenge of managing the pandemic. https://twitter.com/BallouxFrancois/status/1238837167142641664 https://twitter.com/BallouxFrancois/status/12388371671426416... It's not inconsistent per say, since it still seems that the recent reinfections were likely due to test error or rare poor immune response, but my initial comment is misleading enough that I retract it (and would delete it if I could).
- FuckButtons 7y agoCorona viruses also have an error correction enzyme in their rna transcription so their rate of mutation is much lower than most viruses, it’s likely that both herd immunity and vaccination would be effective as a consequence.