I have not read anything about natural immunity from the covid?

[Srkdqltr]

In history I have read that people were In contact with people with the plague or 1918 flu and never caught it. I wondered if this has been looked at with this covid?

[UpInArms]

1. Been researching that question today ..

But what do we know about how the immunity from a prior infection compares with the protection given by the new vaccines? And what if you have already had Covid — is it safe to be vaccinated? We asked experts to weigh in on the latest evidence.

Which produces a stronger immune response: a natural infection or a vaccine?

The short answer: We don’t know. But Covid-19 vaccines have predictably prevented illness, and they are a far safer bet, experts said.

... snip ...

Natural immunity from the coronavirus is fortunately quite strong. A vast majority of people infected produce at least some antibodies and immune cells that can fight off the infection. And the evidence so far suggests that this protection will persist for years, preventing serious illness, if not reinfection.

But there is a “massive dynamic range” in that immune response, with a 200-fold difference in antibody levels.

In people who are only mildly ill, the immune protection that can prevent a second infection may wane within a few months. “Those people might benefit more from the vaccine than others would,” said Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The diversity in the immune response from natural infection might be because of differences in the amount of virus to which the person was exposed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/health/covid-natural-immunity.html

[zipplewrath]

2. Probably better than we know

It is estimated that upwards of 30% of the population has already been infected, and don't know it. There's a very good chance that the vast majority of us have a fairly natural immunity to the symptoms. But it's a crap shoot and no one knows if they are naturally immune.

[Ocelot II]

3. All aspects of immunity are being thoroughly researched, but

because covid19 is novel, that is, never before infecting humans, it's not clear whether there is natural immunity. The common cold is caused by coronaviruses and nobody seems immune to that even though everybody is exposed to it all the time. However, there is some research about T-cells that suggests that some people might have some level of pre-existing immunity. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200716-the-people-with-hidden-protection-from-covid-19

If you mean that people can be immune to it after getting and recovering from it, it does appear so far that there is some immunity, but it's not clear how much. Some people have gotten it twice.

[Shermann]

5. The only way to know the answer is challenge trials without any vaccine

I recommend using Republicans as the participants. They don't believe in any of this anyway.

[Siwsan]

4. Did they not catch it, or were they asymptomatic

My grandfather assisted his priest in giving last rites to victims during the 1918 flu pandemic. He never became ill, and neither did my grandmother or their 4 small children. I got my first flu vaccine, last year, but previous to that I've never exhibited any signs or symptoms of flu. My brother had Covid, right about this time last year, and during the time he would have been at the most contagious stage he was at my house several times. I never exhibited any signs of that, either.

So, do I have a genetically strong immune system or am I a serial asymptomatic carrier of certain viruses. (I do get colds, and had one at the time my brother had Covid.)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Individual immune systems vary widely.

One reason older people generally did not get the 1918 flu, was that a similar flu epidemic had occurred about 50 years earlier, and so most of the old folks had already been exposed before.

With the Covid, as has already been pointed out, it's a novel virus, meaning none of us have ever come up against it before. Nonetheless, I'm going to guess that it's possible that some small fraction of people are naturally immune. Plus, there seems to be a relatively high instance of people having it but having no symptoms.