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Can you be repeatedly infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus?
Text updated on 2020-04-23
We don't know that yet. Longer-term observations on the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and our body's immune response are ongoing.
What do we know about other viruses? For influenza viruses that carry influenza (a different family of viruses from coronaviruses), immunity lasts only about 6 months. For the beta coronaviruses of the same family as the SARS-CoV-2 which caused the outbreaks of SARS and MERS, the immunity typically observed was 24-34 months.
What about SARS-CoV-2 in monkeys? A study implemented on 3 monkeys showed that the animals were immune to a second infection 28 days apart.
What about COVID-19 in humans? A fraction of patients in Korea first developed the disease, confirmed by the presence of virus in their secretions, and then went into remission, with the production of neutralizing antibodies detected by blood tests. After a few weeks, symptoms of COVID-19 reappeared and the virus was again detected. This could indicate that the virus infected them a second time. However, it is also possible that these patients always carried the virus undetected because the dose was lower or the virus was hidden in organs that were not accessible for collection (lung, intestine, etc.). By "waking up" in a second phase, the virus would have become detectable again in nasal or oral secretions.
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