COVID-19: No Guaranteed Protection from Future Infection after the Initial Diagnosis

Abstract

The world of microbiology is vast in nature, and viruses continue to be a subset containing a lot of unknowns. Initial infection with certain viruses, such as varicella zoster virus and measles, allows for development of lifelong immunity; on the other hand, the influenza virus requires yearly vaccination, which may not provide adequate immunity. This can be attributed to antigenic shift and drift, rendering previously made antibodies ineffective against new strains of influenza. This article describes six cases of patients who presented with mild acute respiratory symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 virus. After recovering from initial illness and being asymptomatic for several months, they developed recurrence of acute respiratory symptoms and, again, tested positive for COVID-19 virus, in more severe form than initial presentation. In the current state of the world, COVID-19 has created a lot of unknowns in the medical community, including patient presentation and treatment. COVID-19 research is evolving daily, but many questions remained unanswered. “Will a sufficient antibody response be created by the human body in those infected with COVID-19 and how long will that immunity last?” “Will antigenic drift occur quickly allowing the virus to evade previously made antibodies?” During initial surveillance of the COVID-19 virus, we were expecting development of an immune response comparable to SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, given the viral similarities. Unfortunately, based on our observations, this may not necessarily be true and will be further discussed in the presented article.