Corona for the second time: why some people are infected twice?

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While some people have not even been infected after two years of the Corona pandemic, others have tested positive for the second time. What’s the reason?

The Omikron wave is rolling across the country with full force. Several thousand people are infected with the coronavirus every day, even for the second time. But why is this happening? And most importantly, how quickly can you be re-infected after overcoming an illness?

After surviving Corona infection: That’s why some people are infected twice

First, the most critical question in advance: can you get infected again with the Omicron variant after surviving a Corona infection? Yes!” You can get Omicron twice. It doesn’t matter whether it’s BA.1 or BA.2,” says virologist Alexander Kekulé.

He said the likelihood of such reinfection depends on various factors: possible pre-existing conditions, age, corona vaccinations, and one’s immune status.

In addition, researchers see a connection between a Corona re-infection and the course of the first disease. For example, the immune system produces significantly fewer antibodies in a mild to moderate approach than in a severe method, or the antibody concentration decreases rapidly.

“If there is more time for maturation, the B cells that produce the best antibodies can be selected. This is called avidity maturation. These antibodies bind particularly well to viruses and can even protect against new virus variants of Sars-CoV-2,” Prof. Martina Prelog, immunologist and specialist in pediatrics and adolescent medicine from the University Hospital of Würzburg.

After Corona disease: So quickly, one can be infected again

How quickly one becomes infected with Corona for the second or even third time. “There are no international thresholds that define when one is no longer immune,” quotes the “Apotheken Umschau” Carsten Watzl, Secretary-General of the German Society for Immunology. In principle, however, the longer a corona infection has been present, the higher the probability of becoming infected again.