Researchers have documented what appears to be the first case of COVID-19 reinfection in the US. But it’s not the first time
In a prepress of an article sent to The Lancet magazine, investigators said a 25-year-old Nevada man had re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 last May after recovering from a mild case last month.
Infectious disease experts have stated that reinfections are general and expected, and that general conclusions cannot be drawn.
Re-infection reports this week came from Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Belgium and now the United States.
The Nevada patient first tested positive for coronavirus in April, after developing symptoms such as sore throat, cough, headache, nausea and diarrhea.
The patient eventually reported no more symptoms and then tested negative twice.
But 48 days later, he returned to symptoms, with a much more serious case, was hospitalized and needed oxygen.
Researchers sequenced the RNA of the two virus samples and discovered that they were two other strains, making them a real reinfection.
It is not known why the patient became inflamed again and there is still not much evidence of the immune reaction in other people who have become inflamed with the virus.
In general, researchers find that other people who contract COVID-19 expand a healthy immune response, but it is not known how long it lasts.
Nevada researchers wrote in the paper that a case does not turn out to be a widespread phenomenon. The implication of reinfections is that a vaccine may not be able to provide 100% protection, but they noted that it is “an established understanding, with influenza demonstrating the demanding situations of effective vaccine design. “
Michael Mina, epidemiologist at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, said there are millions of coronavirus cases and the question is what happens to a lot of people.
In a tweet, Mina explained to scientists that “rarely is it because they inform us of them, so we publish them. But, unfortunately, educational reports are placed on the front page of major media, which confuses and scares a lot. “
Look at the thread.
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