Is it possible to get coronavirus again and how dangerous is it – immunologist

Can those who already had COVID-19 get sick again, how the coronavirus mutates, and what mechanisms the population immunity acquires, says the immunologist.

Mutations of any virus are a natural process, such mutations are needed for the virus to constantly adapt to changing conditions, for example, a doctor of medical sciences, an immunologist and specialist in especially dangerous infections, commented on the information about various COVID-19 mutations in different countries.

“The virus actually adapts to the body, it needs its new owner to be more comfortable for it … People, like the virus, also seek to multiply and occupy new territory.”

The specialist also explained how the natural mechanism of mutation occurs. If as a result of local mutations that have been identified in any country, “the virus finds a new host – animals in the forest, domestic animals, some kind of ecological system, it can stay there and it will be a local focal infection,” the immunologist said.

According to the experience of fighting the flu, it is known that its mutational process forces specialists to modify vaccines a little bit every year, to adjust them to the current form of the virus.

“The hepatitis C virus is generally so variable that there is still no vaccine in principle. Therefore, this is not easy, there can be all sorts of options, you need to wait for a specific situation,” the immunologist said.

It is not yet known for certain whether protective immunity is created in a patient who has been ill with a coronavirus against subsequent infection, the source added. To do this, it takes another three months to six months to clarify the situation with the danger of repeated diseases and the acquisition of population immunity, the immunologist summarized.