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Some patients recovered from covid-19 tested positive again. Why can this happen?
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that some people are testing positive for the new coronavirus more than once, although that does not mean they have re-caught the covid-19 disease.
This was explained to the BBC by the doctor Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO epidemiologist.
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“What is being found in some people is that after they have tested negative for covid-19, after a week, two, or even longer, they test positive again,” Van Kerkhove described.
“What actually happens is that While the lungs heal, some dead cells from the lungs are expelled. It is those fragments of the lungs that are testing positive“noted the expert.
The positive results are from the recording of “dead cells” in the lungs, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.
Polymerase chain reaction tests – with which small segments of DNA are “amplified” or copied – are those recommended by the WHO to confirm cases of covid-19, since they directly detect RNA (ribonucleic acid), that is, the genetic material of the virus, in the samples taken from the patient’s respiratory secretions.
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Thus, the positive result in second tests after the recovery of some patients “it is not the infectious virus, it is not reinfection, it is not a reactivation, it is actually part of the body’s healing process, which is picked up by the test and is positive, “the infectologist explained to the BBC television program The Andrew Marr Show.
Can a person get infected again?
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There are still many questions about the behavior of the virus, says the WHO.
When asked if a recovered covid-19 patient can contract the disease again, the WHO specialist said there are still many unanswered questions.
“What we know so far is that when a person gets covid-19 develops antibodies and it displays part of an immune response between one and three weeks after infection, “he said.
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“And what we’re trying to understand now is that response from the immune system: does it mean that it has immunity? Does it mean that it has stronger protection against reinfection?”
“And if so, how long does this protection extend?” Asked Van Kerkhove.
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