A new study from Public Health England shows that people who catch the coronavirus can be protected from the infection for at least five months. Those who catch COVID-19 for the second time experience less severe symptoms or no symptoms and are at risk of infecting other people.
Several Months of Immunity
Before the new year beginning, experts believed that immunity would last for about three months after coronavirus infection. Now, researchers have reported that immunity lasts for five months after infection. They estimated that only 17% of people are at risk of becoming infected again. Researchers at Public Health England have tested more than 20,000 healthcare professionals and say the results are encouraging.
“This means even if you believe you already had the disease and are protected, you can be reassured it is highly unlikely you will develop severe infections, but there is still a risk that you could acquire an infection and transmit to others,” said Prof Susan Hopkins, a study leader.
Researchers will continue to monitor healthcare professionals to find out how long immunity lasts. Next year they will inform us about the new results of the study.
Immunity After Vaccination
Dr. Julian Tang, a virus specialist at the University of Leicester, likens coronavirus to seasonal flu, saying “a vaccine after recovery from Covid-19 is likely to boost innate immunity.”
Exceeding some infections can provide long-term or lifelong immunity, but also none. Each organism’s response is different, so it is not possible to say with certainty who will have lifelong immunity and who will not. Vaccination is similar. Vaccines stimulate the body to react to a vaccine. One develops sufficient immunity after the first dose, some after the second, and never.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55651518, features image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
