People returning from COVID-19 should not assume that they automatically have three months of immunity to reinfection, the CDC warned, after misleading reports suggested that those recovering from coronavirus would be naturally resistant to catching it again. The precaution follows misinterpreted guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on when to perform COVID-19 retests.
Trying to find out if humans can catch coronavirus again after being infected and recovered is an important area of focus for both scientists and policymakers. After all, if there was a period in which those who had COVID-19 were immune to the virus, knowing about it – and how long it could last – could be instrumental in safely returning people to it. work, school and general public life.
An update earlier this month on the CDC’s isolation guidance seems to imply to some readers that a response has been arranged. The health agency suggested that people who showed initial infection could continue to be tested until three months after that initial diagnosis, but in fact not infected for others. This led, the CDC says, to assumptions about immunity.
Assumptions, it makes clear, that are not backed by factual science. In fact, the CDC said in a statement, “This science does not imply that a person is immune to reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the next 3 months of infection. Recent data simply suggest that testing someone within 3 months after initial infection is not necessary unless that person exhibits the symptoms of COVID-19 and the symptoms cannot be associated with another disease. ”
The reality is that we do not yet know if immunity is automatically delivered after a coronavirus recovery. “To date, there are no confirmed reports of a person being re-infected with COVID-19,” the CDC said. As people are immune, it is unclear whether this may be permanent, strain-dependent or temporary. If the latter is the same, it is similarly uncertain how long that temporary immunity could last.
“There have been more than 15 international and US-based studies recently published that looked at length of infection, duration of viral dish, asymptomatic spread and risk of spread between different patient groups,” the CDC explained. “Researchers have found that the amount of live virus in the nose and throat drops significantly after the symptoms of COVID-19. In addition, the duration of infection in most people with COVID-19 is no longer than 10 days after the onset of symptoms and no longer than 20 days in people with a serious illness such as those who are severely immunocompromised. ”
Back in May, the CDC raised red flags about assumptions of immunity, even after serological tests for coronavirus antibodies. False positions, the agency warned, were likely “in most countries”, including “areas heavily affected” by COVID-19, because accuracy depends on larger numbers of infections in a population.
For the moment, the official guidance for CDC isolation remains. Those who have COVID-19 should be isolated for “at least 10 days” after the onset of their symptoms, the agency advises, and 24 hours after their fever is removed without the use of medications that reduce fever. Meanwhile, new research shows that this is the sequence of symptom attack that is particularly distinct for coronavirus, and helps it differentiate from other infections such as flu and SARS.
