Immunity? No immunity? Scientists are now advancing on the possibility of being able to catch Covid-19 several times. Recently, they put forward a hypothesis, in order to explain why some cases of second contamination lead to more serious forms than the first time. The study, published in the scientific journal BMJ Global Health, is for the moment only one line of thought.
The observation is as follows: some cases of second infection with Covid-19 are more severe than the first. This would have been particularly the case in Italy, among the elderly. This would explain the virulence of the coronavirus crisis in this country, with more intense sources of contamination. Many patients had two phases of the disease, with a relapse several days after the first symptoms.
Antibodies that facilitate the progression of the virus
The theory of scientists is therefore that these patients who have already caught SARS-CoV-2 experienced a relaunch of the virus, even more violent. To better illustrate their point, they explain that antibodies developed the first time would not work as a “block” of the virus, but on the contrary as an accelerator of it to develop in the body.
Other coronaviruses are already working this way. SARS and MERS, which have a lot in common with Covid-19, do not allow antibodies to develop that protect against reinfection but antibodies which would rather tend to facilitate a new infection. The same goes for the dengue virus transmitted by tiger mosquitoes.
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