Getting Reinfected by SARS-CoV-2: It Takes a Village to Survive a Pandemic

There’s much scientists and physicians know about SARS-CoV-2, aka Covid-19, but there’s even more than they don’t know.
So far, the world has experienced over 703 million reported cases, just under seven million Covid-related deaths, and there are at the present time 22.2 million active reported Covid cases across the globe.
Covid, at least for the time being, is here to stay and we know that contracting the virus doesn’t bestow permanent immunity. We also know that, when the virus enters the body, it affects multiple organ systems. For the tens of millions of people who suffer from Long Covid, a condition that occurs in perhaps as many as 15% of those who have contracted Covid and surfaces weeks or months after an individual has had an infection, suffer a variety of symptoms – some estimates indicate it could be as many as 200 – and chief among them are debilitating chronic pain, brain fog, shortness of breath, chest pain, and severe persistent chronic fatigue.
Most people have no idea how often they might be getting reinfected with Covid because many cases are asymptomatic and lingering protection from both past infections and vaccinations does typically reduce the severity.
The rooftops of London
However, based on, evidence of the long-term impact of other viruses, it does not bode well for people to contract SARS-CoV-2 at regular intervals.
In Year 5 of the pandemic, we may be tired of hearing about it, tired of the idea of masks and vaccines, and tired of being tired of it, but the fact that it continues to impact us all as a society – even if the most vulnerable among us, the aged and immunocompromised are bearing the brunt of the risk – we need to think of health as the most important common good, one that we must guard and protect, regardless of economic and social forces.
We may think of ourselves as proud individuals but, just as, according to the proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to survive the inevitable pandemic as well, provided that the villagers wash their hands, cover their coughs, and don face masks.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)