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The organization’s infectious disease explains that dead cells expelled from the lung give positive results more than once, but that does not necessarily mean that the person has been newly infected with the coronavirus.
Recovered patients tested positive for covid-19 again
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05/05/2020 – 08h42
Some people are testing positive for the new coronavirus more than once, explains the World Health Organization (WHO), adding that this does not necessarily mean they have become ill from covid-19 again.
“What we are seeing in some people is that, after having tested positive for covid-19, after a week or two, or even more, they test positive again,” he explains. BBC Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO epidemiologist. “What really happens is that while the lungs heal, some dead cells are expelled into the lung. It is these lung fragments that lead to a positive test.”
Polymerase chain reaction tests, which “amplify” or copy small segments of DNA, are recommended by the WHO to confirm cases of covid-19, since they directly detect ribonucleic acid (RNA), or that is, the genetic material of the virus, in samples taken from the patient’s respiratory secretions.
Therefore, the positive result in the second examinations, even after the patient recovers from covid-19, “is not (a sign of the presence of) infectious virus, it is not a reinfection, it is not a reactivation (of the disease), but part of the body’s healing process, which is recorded in the positive sample, “explained Van Kerkhove in the BBC The Andrew Marr Show.
The big question: can a person get the virus more than once?
When asked if a recovered covid-19 patient could become contaminated with the new coronavirus again, the WHO technique noted that this is one of the questions that does not yet have a definitive answer.
“What we know so far is that when a person takes covid-19, they develop antibodies and have an immune response within one to three weeks after infection,” he described.
“What we are trying to understand now is this response from the immune system: does it mean that (the patient) gets immunity? Does it mean that he has stronger protection against reinfection? And, if so, how long does that protection last? “
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