Is norovirus less extreme subsequent times?

[Kflano]

Does anyone know, if you've had norovirus before, are they less extreme subsequent times? I know there are different strains, but are they similar enough your body kind of remembers? Or is it extreme every time?

Also, say I was exposed, but what if I didn't ingest enough particles and didn't get sick? Does that mean I still gain immunity to that strain for the season?

[thecheesecake17]

I was at the docs today and saw a notice about noro and had your EXACT thought!! I thought hang on, if there are many strains, why are we calling it one name?

I wouldn't have thought you gain immunity unless you ingest enough but who knows ... I'm also so curious about how much we have to invest, perhaps we have all caught it more than we think but just suffered mild symptoms we passed off as "ibs" etc

[gumdropper1]

The different strains are all called norovirus, because they are related, just like different agents that cause influenza (Hong Kong flu, Asian flu, etc.) are related.

Having norovirus one time will cause you to develop antibodies for that strain; but those antibodies won't necessarily be effective against a different strain of norovirus. All noro antibodies are potent for at least 10 weeks; so you can't catch norovirus twice in one season. Some noro antibodies can be detected decades later.

[Kflano]

Does your body seem to handle it differently each season? Like do symptoms get more mild. I keep thinking back to as a child where I got super sick as a kid, v*ing a ton, but a year or two later got it again and only v*ed once, then as a teen, got it and only had diarrhea. So I was wondering if that's just an age thing or maybe you can handle it better subsequent times?

[issa]

@klflano I wonder about this too