In response to netizens’ concerns about whether COVID-19 will recur after being discharged from hospital, some experts have said that they will generally not get it again within 6 months after treatment.
In fact, the term “will not be regained within 6 months” is still relatively conservative. According to the previous understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), if the infection is cured after the infection, now No reinfection has been reported, and some of these patients have recovered for more than a decade.
After a person is infected with a certain virus, with the help of medicine, some people can be cured, and some people control and heal the virus through their own immunity. In both cases, there is no longer a virus in the patient’s body. .
After the body’s immune system removes the virus, it does not leave no traces, but will produce a specific substance called the antibody against the protein (antigen component) of the virus, which is actually an immunoglobulin.
The structure and relationship of antibodies and antigens are like keys and locks. After the disease is cured, if there is an antibody, it will be like a key hitting a lock, and the invading virus will be locked soon, so that the virus will no longer work.
Such an example can be explained after the hepatitis B virus infected person is cured: After some people are infected with the hepatitis B virus, the immune system will clear the hepatitis B virus and produce antibodies, that is, hepatitis B surface antibodies.
The hepatitis B surface antibody and the hepatitis B surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus shell are like the relationship between a key and a lock. If hepatitis B virus invades again, it will be neutralized and eliminated by antibodies. Therefore, people with antibodies generally do not get infected with hepatitis B again.
This is why most viral infections can be prevented with vaccines.
Injecting a vaccine is actually a process of simulating a viral infection: After the vaccine components enter the body, the human immune system will generate corresponding antibodies against the antigen components in the vaccine. This antibody and the invading virus antigen are also the key and lock relationship.
The new coronavirus is also a virus, which is the same type of virus as SARS coronavirus, but this time the virus has a new mutation. After SARS coronavirus infection, some self-healing and cured people also produce antibodies. Therefore, it is speculated that the new coronavirus will also undergo such a process: the production of antibodies.
However, because the new coronavirus is a newly discovered virus, experts do not know how the body’s immune system responds to the production of antibodies after the virus is infected. So experts are only speculating so far, and they seem to be more cautious.
There is no clear basis for the six-month period. However, if antibodies are produced in this situation, it is good if the antibodies can be maintained for six months. How long a specific antibody can last may take longer to observe.
Maintaining no infection for six months is obviously more conservative. For example, if a person develops antibodies after HBV infection, they can last for more than ten years or even life.
However, experts will not speak too long, on the one hand because rigorous scientific observations have not been confirmed, and on the other hand, they are also afraid that this mutant virus will have different characteristics.
The six-month psychological defense line is enough to comfort those who are afraid of re-infection. It is also a psychological comfort to the public. In the minds of experts, maybe six months is the critical period for the epidemic of the new coronavirus infection. If the epidemic is controlled after six months, the public will no longer panic.
From the current clinical evidence and research, personally think that six months is a less accurate statement. If antibodies are produced, the immunity of the antibodies to the same type of virus should be longer and may even be lifelong.
However, this antibody may have no effect on new coronaviruses that mutate again, because this possibility is not ruled out. Therefore, experts only proposed a six-month period, and speculated based on general principles that it would take some time if there were variations.
Warm reminder from Dr. Long
All emerging conclusions must be made cautiously about a newly emerging infectious virus that can cause severe illness or even death. However, common sense is common sense. After infection with the virus, the vast majority can produce antibodies, which is a fact. Blind worry is obviously not of much value and will only bring more trouble.