Immunology
 

I'm hoping some folks with expertise in immunology can shed some scientific light on the spread of diseases like the coronavirus.

Is there a "critical mass" of the virus that an individual must be exposed to to become infected? In other words, can some people be exposed and escape the disease?

What are the factors that determine how severe of a reaction a person will have when infected?

Does having the disease, or a vaccination in the future, give lifetime immunity or will this thing evolve like the flu and become something else that we must be vaccinated for every year?

Thanks for any information that helps us understand this better.

Great questions. I’ve been wondering about this. I hope a knowledgeable person can respond.

I will add one more, if you get the Corona virus, do you become immune to it in the future?

This was a question on one of the BBC reports today, and evidently there were cases in China where people who had recovered, caught the virus again.
True or false I have no idea.

Another report was:

Dr Lindsay Broadbent. People will develop short term immunity and once a person recovers from the virus, it is unlikely they will contract it again in a short period of time.
"However we don't know how long that immunity will last," Dr Broadbent said, and explained that our immunity for certain ailments such as the common cold or influenza do not last for our entire life.
"If that's the case with coronavirus we could be looking at a cyclical infection - but we really don't know at this stage."

Seems to be all 'Experts theories' at the moment.
Basically, no one knows what this virus is capable of in the long term.
I always listen to the advice from the bloke with the best beard!