Despite my best efforts of even sleeping in a seperate room, my wife caught the flu from me. Just about being recovered myself, am I immune to that strain now?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Not necessarily.
Posted by RackhamsRazor (Member # 5254) on :
It is my understanding and experience that your immune system has been ramped up during the flu. Now that you are getting over it, your cells may be a bit exhausted. While you may have developed immunity, your cell population might be low enough that it can't effectively fight off the infection again so fast. Immunity would mean that your cells recognize the particular strain and build up an effective response much faster than the first time you got it. However, if your cell population is low enough right now from spending all their energy on fighting off the infections, you could still get a second bout of the flu. I would still be careful for at least a few days to allow your body to fully recover.
Posted by RackhamsRazor (Member # 5254) on :
Also, it is possible that 1. Either your immune system was not effective in building up immunity to that strain or 2. The flu virus mutated just enough when it went to your wife or your wife has a different strain altogether
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
It kind of depends on what you mean by flu, also. If you're using it in the generic sense or to describe a stomach illness, no, you could easily get another illness. If you're using it to describe genuine influenza (respiratory illness with fever, body aches and cough), you're far more likely to have immunity.
Posted by adenam (Member # 11902) on :
I showed this to an internist who said you still have antibodies to this particular strain but are much more susceptable to anything else because you are still weak.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
quote:Originally posted by adenam: I showed this to an internist who said you still have antibodies to this particular strain but are much more susceptable to anything else because you are still weak.
I did come down with a nice cold. Definitely getting the flu shot next year.