It is possible to contract coronavirus more than once, according to a research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Tuesday, 13 October.
The study showed that the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection was recorded in the United States, which is the worst hit by the pandemic in the world with 7,830,000 coronavirus cases and 2,15,000 deaths.
Mark Pandori, for the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory and lead study author, said the possibility of reinfections could have implications for COVID-19 immunity, reported news agency AFP. It is still unclear how long COVID-19 antibodies last, the report noted.
However, researchers said that reinfection is rare and there have been only a few such cases of the millions of coronavirus cases in the world.
It is also important to note that since many persons can be asymptomatic, it cannot be known for sure if a coronavirus case is the first or second infection.
The report noted that a 25-year-old Nevada man was infected with two distinct variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within 48 days. The patient could have been exposed to a high dose or variant of the virus the second time as it resulted in him being hospitalised.
“We need more research to understand how long immunity may last for people exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and why some of these second infections, while rare, are presenting as more severe," Pandori added, reported AFP.
The paper also made note of four other cases of reinfection in Belgium, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Ecuador.
(With inputs from AFP)
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