"I've already had covid"

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People who say this, thinking this means that they can't catch it again, are thickos?

They're up there with the nose sticking out above the mask types.

Who says 'thickos'? 😂😂😂

I had it in March (tested positive, caught from DH who went on a work trip to Germany). 4 months later I had the antibody test. It was negative. I will not be taking my chances and will assume I could catch it again and act accordingly.

I don’t think the “I’ve had it” brigade are thick but I do wonder if it’s a false sense of security.

My friend’s 3 year old tested positive beginning October. They all isolated and her and her eldest had covid symptoms so assumed they had it though didn’t test.
Last week the 3 year old was sent home from nursery again and tested positive again for covid. This time they all tested and whole family got positive tests.
They were all more ill this time too.
Totally anecdotal, but clearly you can catch it twice...

Unless it was a false positive first time but seems those are very rare

I had Covid in March, I was surprised how quickly I caught it. However, haven't had it again, despite going to work and being a serial eye and lip toucher. I'm not complacent at all but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being harder to get it a second time.

@PollyIndia

Unless it was a false positive first time but seems those are very rare

False positive rate thought to be 0.8 - 4.0 %, so it is entirely possible the first test was a false positive.

The whole family getting simultaneous false positives the second time around is highly unlikely though.

@PollyIndia

My friend’s 3 year old tested positive beginning October. They all isolated and her and her eldest had covid symptoms so assumed they had it though didn’t test. Last week the 3 year old was sent home from nursery again and tested positive again for covid. This time they all tested and whole family got positive tests. They were all more ill this time too. Totally anecdotal, but clearly you can catch it twice...

If daughter tested positive in October then they should not have tested again. You should not get tested again within 90 days of a positive as it could be the old virus which shows as another positive

For those certain they had it in March/April - dd was ill in October, high temp, food "didn't taste nice", cough. Except she tested negative. She just had one of the many other bugs doing the rounds.

But no OP, its unlikely people can get it twice, so they are pretty safe.

@SunshineCake My friend has two friend who have caught it twice. One mildly the first time, the second more severely.

Just wondering though, is it catching it twice or could it be that the initial infection whilst apparently cleared, some viral particles 'went dormant' and then the virus re-established itself, like the herpes virus can.

Got a high level qualification in virology and epidemiology have you - or just one in BS?

@TeenageMutantNinjaCovid

My DH came back from working in Milan when Italy locked down in February. He was very ill the next week- was in hospital but wasn't tested for covid. I then got it from him, my DD from me and finally my son when he came home from Uni in March.

Sore throats, cough, colds, chest, fever etc. We thought we might have had it. Did antibody testing in July but negative.

We all got covid in October. Mild symptoms- much much less ill than in February but with hindsight very different symptoms. No cold type symptoms or chest infection.

So it's unlikely you had covid the first time then. You do realise there are lots more viruses in the world, right?

Just wondering though, is it catching it twice or could it be that the initial infection whilst apparently cleared, some viral particles 'went dormant' and then the virus re-established itself, like the herpes virus can

Much more likely that immunity wears off. Like it does with other coronaviruses

Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as “there are only 28 documented cases so we know for sure it’s incredibly rare”. The bar is set incredibly high to be considered a confirmed case of reinfection. To confirm that you were reinfected genome sequencing needs to be done on both samples to show that the test isn’t just picking up dead virus from the old infection. The process for one of the US cases is explained below. They even went as far as doing a DNA test to confirm he was the same person. Not many places keep the old swabs, not many do genome sequencing etc.

^ His lab was alerted to the case by one of Kerwin’s epidemiologists, who was in touch with the patient. When the patient began reporting Covid-like symptoms, again, Kerwin notified the lab. The lab was able to retest the initial sample because technicians laid out a plan to look for anomalies in the beginning of the pandemic. They had kept more than 100,000 specimens, which filtered in from every corner of Nevada except Las Vegas. Those specimens included those of the 25-year-old from Reno.
When Pandori’s lab found the man was positive for Covid-19, bioinformatics analyst Richard Tillett from the University of Nevada Reno was asked to sequence the genome of both the old and new sample. Tillett notified Pandori of the results, and Pandori sent a Washoe county sheriff to the man’s house to get a DNA sample so the team could “sort of do paternity testing” to ensure they were not two different people.
“They’re both Covid-19, and they’re both even within the dominant North American strain, but there are snips – mutations that occurred in the first infection that are not mutated in the second infection,” said Tillett. “And the second infection has some of its own characteristic mutations.”^

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/nevada-reinfection-case-highlights-mysteries-covid-19

So it's unlikely you had covid the first time then. You do realise there are lots more viruses in the world, right?

RTFT before being an arse.

Which is exactly what I was saying and clarified a couple of posts later

Lots of people who thought they had it in Feb/March didnt
We tested for antibodies and found out we didnt
When we had actual covid we realised it was nothing like the virus we had in Feb

You can still spread it via touch even if you are immune

OP, the fact you use the word thickos makes me suspect that you probably don't know what 'statistically negligible' means. You should look it up. You might find it enlightening.

A lot of people think they had it back in February. Chances are you didn't and it was just another illness, that will be why you had no antibodies.

Which is exactly the point I was making.
I clarified after in the post below

To clarify

I wasn't suggesting I had it twice. I was just saying there was a bad bug going round in January /Feb which many people thought might be covid.

We tested to check and it wasn't which we accepted.

When we finally got covid we were left in no doubt that the Feb illness hadn't been covid as they were very different.

Now, I'm wondering if the plural of thicko should be thickoes

Besides the point but I am enjoying hearing about all these "asymptotic carriers" who presumably get ever nearer to infecting you but never quite manage to do so?

@LadyTiredWinterBottom2

I think this is why it's spreading. So many people have had it, or think they have had it, so are going about ther lives without thinking of anyone else.

Of course that's not why, the number of people who have had covid and are spreading it will be exceedingly small.

It's spreading rapidly because it's such a transmissible virus and normal human interaction results in infection. People have been shopping, working, eating out, drinking, interacting indoors, travelling etc

@MargosKaftan

For those certain they had it in March/April - dd was ill in October, high temp, food "didn't taste nice", cough. Except she tested negative. She just had one of the many other bugs doing the rounds.

But no OP, its unlikely people can get it twice, so they are pretty safe.

I think so many people forget that loss of normal smell/taste especially is a common symptom of so many cold like viruses. The moment your sinus's are even slightly blocked your sense of smell is compromised and as aroma counts for ~90% of taste this will change your sense of taste as well. This is a common symptom of all corona viruses. Just because you couldn't smell taste for a while doesn't mean you can make an armchair diagnosis. Unless you got a positive test you really can't say you have it.

@LindaEllen

TeenageMutantNinjaCovid
My DH came back from working in Milan when Italy locked down in February. He was very ill the next week- was in hospital but wasn't tested for covid. I then got it from him, my DD from me and finally my son when he came home from Uni in March.

Sore throats, cough, colds, chest, fever etc. We thought we might have had it. Did antibody testing in July but negative.

We all got covid in October. Mild symptoms- much much less ill than in February but with hindsight very different symptoms. No cold type symptoms or chest infection.

So it's unlikely you had covid the first time then. You do realise there are lots more viruses in the world, right?

Bit patronising. You don’t seem to understand that @TeenageMutantNinjaCovid thought they had it in Feb/March but their antibody tests in July made them think otherwise.

I thought I may have had it in March. Had a strange illness different from anything I have ever had - loss of appetite, dizziness, palpitations, diarrhea, then sore throat, backache and cough, then weeks of peppery feeling chest and indigestion.
However just had a negative antibody test a couple of weeks ago so it looks like maybe it wasn't.

@UnmentionedElephantDildo
Much more likely that immunity wears off. Like it does with other coronaviruses

Thank you, I guess you are correct. It is quite hard to understand as to why a pathogen that invokes such an extreme immune response would not confer immunity, but maybe it does in the young? It is just hard to understand.

I’ve had it and there’s no way in hell I want to get it again 😢