Post by @thatkatharine@ohai.social

katharine

@thatkatharine@ohai.social yesterday

Mmyes. A “fact of life” that has “finally settled”

https://archive.ph/olXbF

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How Bad Is Another Case of Covid?
Repeated infections are "a fact of life" at this point, experts say.
But they warn there is no such thing as a risk-free case. — How Bad Is Another Case of Covid? Repeated infections are "a fact of life" at this point, experts say. But they warn there is no such thing as a risk-free case.

By Dani Blum
Oct. 19, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET
Covid has been around long enough that the once wildly unpredictable virus has finally settled into a few recognizable patterns.
Cases normally rise in the late fall and winter, so repeated infections seem inevitable in the coming months. "Reinfection is more or less a fact of life, with an asterisk," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis who studies Covid. "The asterisk here is that we tend to trivialize this."
And people who have already been sick with the virus three, or five or seven times may think they know what's in store should they test positive again: a cough, an aching throat, full-body fatigue or other common symptoms. — By Dani Blum Oct. 19, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET Covid has been around long enough that the once wildly unpredictable virus has finally settled into a few recognizable patterns. Cases normally rise in the late fall and winter, so repeated infections seem inevitable in the coming months. "Reinfection is more or less a fact of life, with an asterisk," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis who studies Covid. "The asterisk here is that we tend to trivialize this." And people who have already been sick with the virus three, or five or seven times may think they know what's in store should they test positive again: a cough, an aching throat, full-body fatigue or other common symptoms.

line graph from PMC19, SARS-CoV-2 New Daily Infections Wastewater-Derived Estimates (U.S.) spanning from 2020 to 2027, ranging from 0 to 5 million new daily infections, and displaying 13 Covid waves. The 4th wave at the start of 2022 tops well over 5 million daily infections. The current 13th wave has reached approximately 1 million estimated new daily infections.

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katharine

@thatkatharine@ohai.social yesterday

It’s mandatory that every article written about Covid include some bullshit about the virus magically becoming milder over time and immune systems getting swole and tuff from the combination of vaccinations and infections, even when the rest of the article is like “Covid will fuck you up eventually, if it hasn’t already.”

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Milder Infections, Continued Risk
Covid infections have generally become milder as the virus has mutated and new variants have circulated. Additionally, scientists suspect that the more times you've been exposed to Covid - whether through infections or vaccination — the better your immune system becomes at recognizing and responding to the virus.
On average, the risk of getting seriously sick from an infection - whether it's your first or your fifth — has significantly declined, Dr.
Al-Aly said.
But, he added, that does not mean an infection is inconsequential.
There's no such thing as a risk-free case, experts said. — Milder Infections, Continued Risk Covid infections have generally become milder as the virus has mutated and new variants have circulated. Additionally, scientists suspect that the more times you've been exposed to Covid - whether through infections or vaccination — the better your immune system becomes at recognizing and responding to the virus. On average, the risk of getting seriously sick from an infection - whether it's your first or your fifth — has significantly declined, Dr. Al-Aly said. But, he added, that does not mean an infection is inconsequential. There's no such thing as a risk-free case, experts said.

But it's been challenging to find more recent health record data that examines cases of reinfection with the latest variants of the virus, said Richard Moffitt, a researcher at Emory University, who was an author on the 2024 report.
"How many times have you gotten Covid, and then how many times, of those, does your doctor know about?" he said. "The surveillance as far as how many people getting Covid end up in the medical system has really plummeted."
Researchers do know that the severity of a case, as well as the symptoms, can vary from one infection to the next. A person who was asymptomatic during one Covid infection could develop a sore throat and cough the next. Someone who had cold symptoms during a first infection could have an upset stomach as part of another bout.
"Every infection is a chance at something going wrong," Dr. Moffitt said. — But it's been challenging to find more recent health record data that examines cases of reinfection with the latest variants of the virus, said Richard Moffitt, a researcher at Emory University, who was an author on the 2024 report. "How many times have you gotten Covid, and then how many times, of those, does your doctor know about?" he said. "The surveillance as far as how many people getting Covid end up in the medical system has really plummeted." Researchers do know that the severity of a case, as well as the symptoms, can vary from one infection to the next. A person who was asymptomatic during one Covid infection could develop a sore throat and cough the next. Someone who had cold symptoms during a first infection could have an upset stomach as part of another bout. "Every infection is a chance at something going wrong," Dr. Moffitt said.

A number of studies have shown that each time someone contracts Covid introduces an opportunity to develop long-term symptoms.
Researchers often compare it to Russian roulette: Any infection could be the one that leads to long Covid.
"Every time there's a wave, there's another wave that's going to follow with patients developing new onset long Covid," said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University.
Some researchers think that reinfections are part of why the number of people with long Covid has plateaued. Even though some people have recovered from their long-term symptoms, there's continually a new influx of patients developing the condition, said Dr. Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London. And if someone already has long Covid and then contracts the virus again, that patient risks experiencing more severe symptoms. — A number of studies have shown that each time someone contracts Covid introduces an opportunity to develop long-term symptoms. Researchers often compare it to Russian roulette: Any infection could be the one that leads to long Covid. "Every time there's a wave, there's another wave that's going to follow with patients developing new onset long Covid," said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Some researchers think that reinfections are part of why the number of people with long Covid has plateaued. Even though some people have recovered from their long-term symptoms, there's continually a new influx of patients developing the condition, said Dr. Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London. And if someone already has long Covid and then contracts the virus again, that patient risks experiencing more severe symptoms.

katharine

@thatkatharine@ohai.social yesterday

Surveillance has plummeted because medical professionals keep gaslighting the people who are actively seeking diagnosis and treatments while many others may be so ill that they cannot get to the point where they can seek care and everyone else minimizes and dismisses new symptoms/issues due to deeply internalized ableism and health supremacy.