重複感染新冠病毒的風險有多大？最新科學再次說 | updated COVID-19 ReinfectionRisks
新冠病毒的幽靈已經困擾全球四年了…”
2024年2月13日美國《科學人》的文章一開頭用「幽靈」（The specter of COVID）來形容新冠的陰魂不散，看樣子我常用的「妖新冠」這詞，實在貼切。
每天都採取措施，以防萬一、面對新冠再感染，躲得越遠，越好 !
近一個月後，根據《科學人》這篇最新文章，再次歸納一下科學目前已知的新冠再感染（重複感染）風險。
科學知道的
1. 新冠將長期存在——感染它—並不能讓人們獲得永久免疫力
2. 研究人員和臨床醫生都知道人們現在正在遭受多重感染
3. 據美國疾病管制與預防中心一月中旬報告稱，全國近 4% 的死亡是由新冠病毒引起的
4. 目前的新冠疫苗無法完全預防感染
5. 感染新冠會影響多個器官系統，WHO 新冠技術負責人，現任世衛流行病和大流行防範與預防司臨時司長 Maria Van Kerkhove說:
“我們不知道再感染的頻率…我們知道，當病毒進入我們的身體時，它會影響多個器官系統…”
6. 新冠病毒反覆發作的潛在長期後果時，德州大學傳染病專家Sunil Ahuja 表示：
“確定因果關係非常具有挑戰性。”在兩次感染之間的時間裡，“他們還發生了許多其他事情”
7. 美國國立衛生研究院神經學家Avindra Nath表示肺部感染可能會在肺部留下疤痕或引發血栓、干擾免疫系統
科學不知道的
1. 不知再感染的頻率，人們被感染的次數可能比他們知道的要多
2. 反覆感染病毒的長期後果尚不清楚
3. 有些病毒可以隱藏在體內，並在初次感染數十年後出現，從而引起新的問題
聖路易斯華盛頓大學臨床流行病學家 Ziyad Al-Aly 表示：
“無論你如何看待它，無論你考慮什麼長期健康影響，（再次感染）的風險都不是零。”
世衛組織的Van Kerkhove又說:
“我們需要能夠追蹤的是五年後、十年後肺功能和心臟功能的併發症”
她也呼籲各國政府採取更大膽的措施，例如加強建築物的通風要求，並支持開發更好的疫苗，包括可以更有效地預防呼吸道感染新冠病毒的口服或鼻腔疫苗，因為病毒是從呼吸道進入人體的。
所以說，
此刻，平民百姓的我們，能確定的是: 每天都採取措施，以防萬一、面對新冠再感染，躲得越遠，越好 !
想了解更多關於新冠和長新冠最新科學知識，可參看 A.H. 新冠科普
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新冠後症狀（Post COVID-19 condition ），簡稱長新冠（Long COVID） 是指在初次感染新冠病毒三個月後繼續或出現新症狀，症狀持續至少兩個月，無法用其他診斷來解釋的病症。
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The risk of being reinfected with COVID-19, what the latest science says.
“The specter of COVID has haunted the globe for four years now.”
The article in the American Scientist on February 13, 2024 used "The specter of COVID" at the beginning to describe the lingering ghost of the COVID-19. It seems that the term "SARS Demon/Specter" that I often use is really appropriate.
Nearly a month later, we once again will summarize the risks of COVID-19 reinfection currently known based by science.
What Science Knows
- COVID-19 is here to stay – catching it does not advise permanent immunity
- Researchers and clinicians know that people are now suffering from multiple infections
- The US CDC reported in mid-Jan that nearly 4% of deaths nationwide were caused by COVID-19
- Current COVID-19 vaccines cannot completely prevent infection
- Infection with COVID-19 can affect multiple organ systems. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO COVID-19 technical lead indicated that we don't know the frequency of reinfection...we know that when the virus enters our body, it affects multiple organ systems...
- When looking at the potential long-term consequences of repeated infections, Sunil Ahuja, an infectious disease expert at the University of Texas specified that determining causation is very challenging. Particularly, in the time between infections,
"they’ve also had many other things happen to them, too.”
7. Avindra Nath, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health, recognized that lung infections may leave scars in the lungs or cause blood clots and interfere with the immune system.
What science doesn’t know
- The frequency of reinfection is not known and people may be infected more times than they know
- The long-term consequences of repeated infections are unclear
- Some viruses can hide in the body and emerge decades after the initial infection, causing new problems
Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, said:
"However you slice it, whatever long-term health effect you look at, the risk [from reinfection] is not zero."
WHO’s Van Kerkhove added:
"What we need to be able to track is the complications of pulmonary function [and] cardiac function five years from now, 10 years from now"
She also called on governments to take bolder measures, such as tightening ventilation requirements in buildings and supporting the development of better vaccines, including oral or nasal vaccines that can more effectively prevent respiratory infections, where the virus enters the body.
Therefore,
At this moment, what we, the common people, can be sure of is this: we must take measures every day to be prepared in case of COVID-19 reinfection, and the farther we hide, the better!“
