# Does Covid-19 linger in the body after have been ill with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 28, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524 "2020-03-28T18:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/1 "2020-03-28T18:16:23Z")
Does Covid-19 linger in the body after have been ill with it? I was wondering if the Covid-19 virus lingers in the body of people after they have been sick from it and could they still be carriers to transmit it after they are no longer sick? Or is it not known? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/2 "2020-03-28T18:27:04Z")
They develop [antibodies](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/03/28/university-arizona-working-tests-detect-covid-19-antibodies/5083093002/)in their blood. These antibodies could be useful in fighting the virus, but it still needs to be studied. I have heard of no case like Typhoid Mary if that’s what you are thinking. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/3 "2020-03-28T18:29:16Z")
If you mean after being symptomatic can you still be contagious, it looks like yes, but less so. However they’re not sure yet. Once you recover and test negative, you should not be contagious. Also not sure how immune you are after recovery and especially not sure how long such immunity will last. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/4 "2020-03-29T11:31:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > If you mean after being symptomatic can you still be contagious, it looks like yes, but less so. However they’re not sure yet. Once you recover and test negative, you should not be contagious. > > Also not sure how immune you are after recovery and especially not sure how long such immunity will last. The Chinese have people who recovered and no longer tested positive, yet later on were ‘reinfected’ and/or passed it on. However it could also be the tests were performed wrong. Another problem is false positives, no matter what disease you are always going to have people test positive when they are in fact negative and test negative when they are positive. Medical thought is you can’t get it again and something is up with the testing, but it’s too soon and the virus too new to tell. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/5 "2020-03-29T12:23:15Z")
Do we know if it could be like chicken pox/shingles? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/6 "2020-03-29T13:05:52Z")
What I’ve heard is that it doesn’t mutate rapidly, so that chances are that you won’t be able to get it twice. That’s a general proposition, though. There are cases of people having chicken pox twice. There are cases of vaccinated people getting measles. It’s called “not holding a titer.” For some reason your immunity fades even though that is not typically the way it works for people. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-covid-19-linger-in-the-body-after-have-been-ill-with-it/850524/7 "2020-03-29T13:11:14Z")
It seems sometimes you can get it again after recovering, yikes! ( [Redirecting...](https://www.facebook.com/586296964/posts/10156798513156965/))