A 33-year-old Hong Kong man appears to be the first reported case of a person contracting COVID-19 twice.
What We Know:
- The man first had the coronavirus in late March but has now contracted it again while traveling in Europe almost five months later. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong say that he showed symptoms during his first bout with the virus but they are not observing any clear or obvious symptoms this time. This case rightfully raises questions about how immune people can be from COVID-19 and could change our perception of the disease.
- The patient was found to have been reinfected while returning to Hong Kong from Spain. He tested positive during his entry screening and was hospitalized. “The patient got re-infected 4.5 months after the first infection. Therefore, it shows that for this patient, the immunity induced by the first infection is short lasting,” said Dr. Kelvin Kai-Wang of the University of Hong Kong.
- There have been other reports of coronavirus reinfection, but those have largely been dismissed due to flaws in testing. Although this is the first confirmed and documented case of COVID-19 reinfection, some scientists want to be cautious with this information and are not sure if this should raise worldwide concerns about reinfection.
- “This case illustrates that re-infection can occur even just a few months of recovery from the first infection. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may persist in humans, as is the case for other common-cold associated human coronavirus, even if patients have acquired immunity via natural infection or via vaccination,” said the University of Hong Kong researchers. They also urged recovered COVID-19 patients to still wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
Even though it appears reinfection is possible during the pandemic, other experts find it encouraging that this man is experiencing milder symptoms during his second infection. Experts and doctors from around the world do agree that more research studies are needed to reach a better understanding about this virus.
