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Those masks that flout after a previous coronavirus infection and suspected immunity can still carry the virus and pass it on to others, doctors say. Reinfection is also possible, although these cases have been very rare.
Health experts told Fox News that despite the studies, there is still uncertainty about how long immunity lasts after infection. Not to mention, on re-exposure, the virus can linger in the respiratory tract and then spread to others.
Those masks that flout a previous coronavirus infection and suspected immunity can still carry the virus and pass it on to others, doctors say. (iStock)
“Most likely if you are infected once, you are more likely to be immune to the infection,” said Dr. Adi Shah, infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic. “But immunity to infection doesn’t mean you can’t wear it.”
“You can still pass the virus on to someone else who doesn’t have this immunity and that’s why it’s important to wear a mask even if you’ve been infected once,” Shah explained.
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Like Shah, Dr. Dean Winslow, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care, also pointed out that reinfection is possible.
However, in millions of cases around the world, “cases of reinfection have been very rare,” Shah added.
At the end of August, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical manager of the World Health Organization (WHO), addressed the issue of reinfection when the first reported case of reinfection surfaced in Hong Kong: “It does not mean that it happens, you know, a lot, ”Van Kerkhove said at the time. “We know it’s possible. But it’s something we knew was possible based on our experience with other human coronaviruses.
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As researchers work for conclusive results regarding coronavirus immunity and its duration, “wearing a mask shows respect [and] consideration of your fellow Americans, ”Winslow said.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their coronavirus-related face mask guidelines on Tuesday to include protection for the wearer as well. The update takes the Federal Health Agency’s previous position further that wearing a face mask can reduce the spread of the virus to others.
The CDC said early research supports community masking to reduce the spread of the virus, particularly when estimates indicate that more than half of transmissions come from asymptomatic people.
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