Patients infected with the disease are recommended to continue taking “serious precautions” such as social distancing, face coverings and handwashing, among others, a major study from a medical journal revealed.
A person in the United States with no immune disorders or underlying conditions was infected twice by COVID-19, a Lancet study has revealed.
The Lancet Infections Diseases journal research is the first to confirm evidence of COVID-19 reinfection in the US.
According to the study, a man aged 25 in Nevada was infected with two separate strains of SARS-CoV-2 within 48 hours and tested negative between the infections, indicating previous exposure to the virus may not guarantee total immunity.
But the second infection resulted in a more severe case, requiring hospitalisation with oxygen support, it continued.
He added that despite more research being required, potential reinfections could have “significant implications” for immunity against COVID-19, namely as no effective vaccine has been found.
Genome sequencing of both viral samples took place in April and June to confirm the separate strains of COVID-19.
Roughly four separate cases of coronavirus reinfections were confirmed in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Belgium and Ecuador.
According to the study, the case in Ecuador may have resulted in worse symptoms in the first infection due the presence of antibodies, as seen in diseases such as SARS-CoV betacoronavirus and dengue fever.
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University added that as more reinfections surfaced, the scientific community could better understand how the body protects from the virus and how “frequently natural infections with SARS-CoV-2 induce that level of immunity”.
The findings come just after US President Donald Trump was released from the Walter Reed Medical Centre after being treated for coronavirus since his admission on Friday.
The US president claimed he was ‘probably’ free of the virus and felt “in great shape” after his hospital discharge, but the new research shows he could potentially be at risk despite stating he was immune for “maybe a long time”.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
