Can you get covid twice ?

[unmumsymummy21]

I know this has been asked before but I'm curious if you can get it twice and also if it's worse the second time ? If you got through your first bout of covid quite well and had it quite mildly, would that mean second time is also mild or could it be worse ? This is of course assuming you catch the same strain.

Thank you!

Yes, you can get it twice. Not sure if there’s any information about how severely, although I have seen some reports from people who had it worse the second time.

Yes you can get it twice, although only a small proportion of people who get it once will get it again.

To put it another way - infection confers good immunity but it’s not a cast iron guarantee. It’s not known how long immunity from natural infection lasts, but we’re now approaching the one year mark from when cases started ramping up and reinfection still seems to be a minority experience.

Reports show that most people with a confirmed second infection have mild or no symptoms. There are a small number of reports of people getting it worse second time around.

To summarise - you would be very unlucky to get it twice, and very, very, very unlucky to get it worse second time.

There are always outliers (who get it multiple times/worse each time etc. ). You are very, very unlikely to be one. OTOH, despite this also being true of lotteries, people continue to play them.

@PuzzledObserver thanks ! Just wondering if I can worry a little less about my grandma now that she's had it and got through it ! Before she gets vaccinated of course.

Interestingly I’ve heard (so treat this as very anecdotal) that those who have had covid experience worse side effects from the vaccine than those who haven’t. Following that line I wouldn’t be surprised if a second infection had the capability to be worse if it caused your immune system to respond aggressively especially with the number of variants we’re aware of.

It’s all relative though, if you caught covid the first time and barely noticed it, ‘worse’ could be anything from laid up in bed for a few days to needing hospital oxygen support.

‘Worse’ might also depend on the strain rather than previous infection or it might be that the previous infection left you with some issues that put you at higher risk of a severe infection if you catch it again. People without those longer term issues might get it less severely 2nd time. It’s one of many things with Covid we don’t really know the answer to yet.

When did your grandma have covid?

Started displaying symptoms on New Year's Eve!

I think she’s unlikely to catch it again before she’s vaccinated, depending on her age. I think it’s almost unheard of under 5/6 months and in those cases there was a query over whether it was a new infection or the original infection returning.

Oh god. The original infection can also come back.

I just read about this

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52446965

The answer is yes. If you had it mild the first time it can be worse the second time but I'm not sure there's a trend

Yes you can get it twice, although only a small proportion of people who get it once will get it again.

There is insufficient evidence to make that statement. You would require epidemiological studies over several years to make such an assertion. Whilst people who have had it once have active antibodies, the chances of reinfection are probably low because the body is familiar with the virus and the immune system is able to respond to it much quicker (which is why it is thought that people who have had the virus may react more strongly to the vaccine than those who haven't). However, as the bodies natural reaction diminishes the it is possible / probable that people could get it again, and there is absolutely no way of telling whether they would get it worse or not. Given that the chances are, globally speaking, there are a handful of people who had the virus a year ago, and who are quite likely to still have some immune reaction, nobody can say what proportion might get it again in six months/ 12 months/ 24 months.

Many, many viruses provide a level of natural (or vaccinated) immunity for a period afterwards which diminishes over time. If it were provably true that few people who have had the virus once could get it again, they wouldn't need the vaccine, as they would already have the same or similar level of immunity.

I think it’s unlikely it was the original infection after 4 months tbh OP. I think we’d see much more of that if it was the case.

Much more likely at this point that infection confers immunity for a period of time, we’re just not sure how long yet. Most people are likely still immune at 6 months. I would assume that she’s probably immune for now and not worry about her getting it again but still act as though she isn’t immune IYSWIM.

Yes, and many of us will do, so the government will be able to research whether it is worse or better, lucky Brits!

God that BBC article is so out of date.

Yes you can get it again, it may be uncommon (but possibly not even that, time will tell) but it's not incredibly rare.

I've heard some say the second infection was worse than the first but only from people who had it mildly the first time. Ime and that of most people I've spoken to, the second infection was milder.

I had covid twice. Tested positive in July and again 2 days after Christmas. I didn't think it was possible until it happened.

The test and grace caller told me it was more common than people think!

Tested positive in April**

Someone on the telly said the word July and I must've typed it

Yes you can get it twice. I only know one person who has. She was fairly ill the first time, and has ongoing long covid symptoms. When she tested positive the second time she was asymptomatic.

I know a couple of people who've had it twice. Second time the symptoms were definitely milder.

Same here, had it twice and second time was markedly milder. I'm fully expecting a third infection before i actually get vaccinated as i am too far down the list !

Yes.

My oldest daughter who is 13 got it at the end of October 2020, she was very, very sick with it.
She then got it again at the end of January this year, she wasn't as sick but was still very unwell.

As many posters have said you can get it twice

In addition to the anecdotal evidence here the siren study recorded 44 reinfections amongst UK medics but showed 90 ISH% protection after 5 months. This is continuing but I guess will be less useful now ( in terms of monitoring the duration of protective effects of natural immunity) as presumably participants will now have had vaccine jabs

Then again in SA one of the vaccine trials had 30% of the placebo group with evidence of prior infection but it made no difference in the incidence of symptomatic infection amount of moderate or severe cases etc, presumably due to the new sa strain.

A person I know was asymptomatic the first time but got symptoms the second time albeit not requiring hospital treatmentetc

Lots of people seems to suggest reinfection will be milder and let's hope so but I suppose it could depend on which strain you catch, viral load etc.

Me: Yes you can get it twice, although only a small proportion of people who get it once will get it again.

@Moondust001 There is insufficient evidence to make that statement. You would require epidemiological studies over several years to make such an assertion.

Ok - I was thinking of the SIREN study to which pp referred, plus another one I can’t remember the name of - sorry, recalling details not my strong point.

I think the SIREN study showed 88% reduction in positive PCR tests in HCP’s with previous Covid infection compared to those who hadn’t. The other one (Biobank?) showed that 97% of participants with antibodies at the start still had them after 3 months, and 88% still had them after 6 months. Figures from memory, sorry if they’re inaccurate.

Personally I would class 12% as a small proportion, but I should have caveated my statement by saying “at six months.” Clearly we don’t know how much longer that protection will last.

That's largely why I think the OP doesn't need to worry puzzled. But with a relatively recent infection I don't think it is too much of a worry and (depending on age) the OP's grandma will probably be vaccinated before she loses immunity.

Obviously don't go swanning around thinking you are immune, but with the current restrictions/distancing I doubt it's too much of an issue right now.

I’m in the same position as OP’s grandma - except presumably younger - in that I started symptoms on New Year’s Eve. I’m having my first jab on Tuesday. I haven’t been doing anything silly, but have been working on the assumption that my risk of catching Covid any time soon is low.

Come to think of it - how old is your grandma, OP? Hasn’t she had her vaccine yet?

I think a good many of the people who say they have had it twice just have yet to clear the original infection.

@Mumisnotmyonlyname that may be true but where's the data? I tested negative 6 times following my first infection and before my second 9 months later. And it's pretty weird that my original infection would be suddenly reactivated 5 days after ds1 caught COVID at school.

That said, there were many times wrong COVID tgat I felt the virus hadnt left me (hence the 6 tests).