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This is neither surprising nor concerning. It is exactly what you would expect from a coronavirus, remembering that a lot of what we now call the common cold is

This is neither surprising nor concerning. It is exactly what you would expect from a coronavirus, remembering that a lot of what we now call the common cold is caused by various coronavirus strains. It would be shocking if we did _not_ see re-infection. The important questions are as follows: 1. What is the _severity_ of reinfection? 2. What is the average immune response of re-infections? 3. If the infection is less severe, what is the shedding rate? How infectious are the re-infected? 4. Does re-infection occur in those who receive mRNA vaccinations (this is not really testable yet) The pearl clutching with everything COVID related is quite concerning, moreso than the disease itself. The science is interesting, but the medias obsession with exaggerating and fear-mongering this disease is incredible. With that said, I appreciate that the link is to the paper, and not a media report on the paper. However I do await the stories that this proves we are all doomed :(

sdflhasjd 6y ago
The paper says the patient had mild symptoms the first infection, but was asymptomatic the second time.
- salmon30salmon 6y ago
  Right, I meant mainly in aggregate. If this patient is the norm, then we are fine
thewarrior 6y ago
I wouldn’t say it’s entirely unconcerning. Especially if reinfected patients can still spread the virus. This could really prolong the whole mess until full deployment of a vaccine.
- tinus_hn 6y ago
  How would a vaccine help if reinfections are possible?
  - thewarrior 6y ago
    Because the reinfected people wouldn’t die.
  - DanBC 6y ago
    Reinfection appears rare. Vaccination slows the rate of transmission and so protects people who are high risk of death and harm while everyone else gets on with life.
sthnblllII 6y ago
This is primarily significant because it means “herd immunity” will not kick in and end the pandemic. Its looking more like this will be another endemic disease like influenza that permanently depresses life expectancy. Without flu, life expectancies would go up a year or two in developed countries.
- tinus_hn 6y ago
  If that is true a vaccine wouldn’t help either so the answers are either the infinite quarantine or going back to normal life.
  - sthnblllII 6y ago
    If everyone gets vaccinated within the timespan immunity lasts, the disease will be eradicated.
    - tinus_hn 6y ago
      Too bad, apart from the fact not everyone is going to get vaccinated there are also animal reservoirs.
      - sthnblllII 6y ago
        Really? I havent read anything about animal reservoirs. Are you speculating that they might exist? Not everyone needs to be vaccinated to eradicate a disease. A large fraction can go unvaccinated and as long as recirculation is slow enough the natural immunity will result in eradication even among that population.
pasabagi 6y ago
> pearl clutching with everything COVID related is quite concerning, moreso than the disease itself. At the high points of the peak in the US, COVID 19 was killing more people per week than cancer or heart disease in the US. If everybody was just going on with business as usual, there's no reason to believe that the curve would have been turned. If you're in an at-risk group, COVID is really dangerous. The case fatality rate is around 3% in the US, and it's extremely contagious, so it's plausible to imagine a world where everybody got it. I think with these numbers in mind, a little bit of 'pearl clutching' is warranted.
- chrisco255 6y ago
  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm There was only ever a few weeks there that excess death count was above average (see above). We have been at or below average for several weeks now. When you factor that in with the fact that vast majority of Covid deaths (over 90%) had comorbidities, we can safely conclude this virus is not as deadly as it has been hyped up to be. Case fatality rate is nowhere near 3%. Most estimates have been 0.25% or lower. Vast majority of the population has natural immunity and remains asymptomatic even upon infection. EDIT REPLY: No average excess deaths is never zero, as you can see in the chart down the page listed above on the CDC site. We have been down in the range of a bad flu season for a couple months now. Why is excess death count important? Because it disentangles the people who died from Covid from the people who died with Covid. If a 90 year old dies with Covid, and that same person would have statistically likely died from any disease including pneumonia or the flu, it's worth noting. It has substantial implications for society. That's why excess death count is worth looking at.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > there was only ever a few weeks there that excess death count was above average (see above). What is this supposed to mean? Excess death count is the amount above the expected, so average excess deaths is 0. And every week from March 28 on has positive excess deaths, except the last week on the chart, which is unreliable becuase... > We have been at or below average for several weeks now. from the popup in your source when you highlight any datapoint on the chart: "Data in recent weeks are incomplete."

sdflhasjd 6y ago

The paper says the patient had mild symptoms the first infection, but was asymptomatic the second time.

salmon30salmon 6y ago
Right, I meant mainly in aggregate. If this patient is the norm, then we are fine

thewarrior 6y ago

I wouldn’t say it’s entirely unconcerning. Especially if reinfected patients can still spread the virus. This could really prolong the whole mess until full deployment of a vaccine.

tinus_hn 6y ago
How would a vaccine help if reinfections are possible?
- thewarrior 6y ago
  Because the reinfected people wouldn’t die.
- DanBC 6y ago
  Reinfection appears rare. Vaccination slows the rate of transmission and so protects people who are high risk of death and harm while everyone else gets on with life.

sthnblllII 6y ago

This is primarily significant because it means “herd immunity” will not kick in and end the pandemic. Its looking more like this will be another endemic disease like influenza that permanently depresses life expectancy. Without flu, life expectancies would go up a year or two in developed countries.

tinus_hn 6y ago
If that is true a vaccine wouldn’t help either so the answers are either the infinite quarantine or going back to normal life.
- sthnblllII 6y ago
  If everyone gets vaccinated within the timespan immunity lasts, the disease will be eradicated.
  - tinus_hn 6y ago
    Too bad, apart from the fact not everyone is going to get vaccinated there are also animal reservoirs.
    - sthnblllII 6y ago
      Really? I havent read anything about animal reservoirs. Are you speculating that they might exist? Not everyone needs to be vaccinated to eradicate a disease. A large fraction can go unvaccinated and as long as recirculation is slow enough the natural immunity will result in eradication even among that population.

pasabagi 6y ago

> pearl clutching with everything COVID related is quite concerning, moreso than the disease itself. At the high points of the peak in the US, COVID 19 was killing more people per week than cancer or heart disease in the US. If everybody was just going on with business as usual, there's no reason to believe that the curve would have been turned. If you're in an at-risk group, COVID is really dangerous. The case fatality rate is around 3% in the US, and it's extremely contagious, so it's plausible to imagine a world where everybody got it. I think with these numbers in mind, a little bit of 'pearl clutching' is warranted.

chrisco255 6y ago
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm There was only ever a few weeks there that excess death count was above average (see above). We have been at or below average for several weeks now. When you factor that in with the fact that vast majority of Covid deaths (over 90%) had comorbidities, we can safely conclude this virus is not as deadly as it has been hyped up to be. Case fatality rate is nowhere near 3%. Most estimates have been 0.25% or lower. Vast majority of the population has natural immunity and remains asymptomatic even upon infection. EDIT REPLY: No average excess deaths is never zero, as you can see in the chart down the page listed above on the CDC site. We have been down in the range of a bad flu season for a couple months now. Why is excess death count important? Because it disentangles the people who died from Covid from the people who died with Covid. If a 90 year old dies with Covid, and that same person would have statistically likely died from any disease including pneumonia or the flu, it's worth noting. It has substantial implications for society. That's why excess death count is worth looking at.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > there was only ever a few weeks there that excess death count was above average (see above). What is this supposed to mean? Excess death count is the amount above the expected, so average excess deaths is 0. And every week from March 28 on has positive excess deaths, except the last week on the chart, which is unreliable becuase... > We have been at or below average for several weeks now. from the popup in your source when you highlight any datapoint on the chart: "Data in recent weeks are incomplete."