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> COVID and influenza are much easier, because the human immune system can fight off those viruses reasonably effectively and most people recover. A vaccine jus
by amluto 4y ago
> COVID and influenza are much easier, because the human immune system can fight off those viruses reasonably effectively and most people recover. A vaccine just has to replicate having had the disease and recovered.
Really?
Influenza mutates and mostly escapes natural immunity all the time. Essentially everyone has had the flu and recovered, and a lot of people (and almost all children?) have been vaccinated. Yet the flu still circulates. The whole point of this new vaccine candidate is to produce better protection than natural immunity or the current vaccine.
COVID is so new that the endgame isn’t really known, but reinfections with different variants seem to be fairly common. Certainly the other (non-COVID) human coronaviruses reinfect humans regularly. (They account for 1/3 of common colds by estimates I’ve seen, and there are only four of them. The average person gets many more than 12 colds in their life.)
- Brian_K_White 4y agoNone of this is relevant. They were responding to a comment bringing up how many hiv vaccines appear and fail trial. The flu and covid are different from hiv in the way this comment describes.
- ASalazarMX 4y ago> Influenza mutates and mostly escapes natural immunity all the time You're right, it does, and the parent comment is also right that your immune system will fight it and win again most of the time. HIV is special because your body will fight it, but lose the battle given enough time. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus targets your immune system, and gradually weakens it until you can't fight even common fungus spores. COVID storms the gates and the soldiers fight it back, HIV sneaks into the castle and attacks the barracks in a war of attrition.