Two coronavirus patients in Europe have been re-infected with COVID-19 in a confirmed development that one scientist called “bad news”, according to a report on Wednesday.
One of the patients, from Belgium, suffered mild symptoms after catching COVID-19 in March and then again in June, health officials said Tuesday, according to Sky News.
A second patient – an elderly person from the Netherlands with a weakened immune system – was also re-infected, the outlet reported.
The new cases, confirmed by rigorous genetic testing, showed a second time in both other strains of the virus in both people, and raised concerns among some scientists about immunity.
“I think we will see other similar stories in the coming days. These may be exceptions, but they exist. It is not good news,” said Marc Van Ranst, a Belgian virologist, local station VRT.
The new cases come after investigators on Monday revealed a 33-year-old man from Hong Kong was the first patient ever confirmed to be re-infected with the coronavirus.
The man showed mild symptoms after receiving COVID-19 in March, and is testing positive again at an airport this month, according to researchers from the University of Hong Kong. He had no symptoms the second time.
Other scientists said the reinfections were “expected” and should not cause an alarm.
“The fact that someone shows up with a reinfection does not make me nervous,” said virologist Marion Koopmans, an adviser to the Dutch government. “We need to see if it happens often.”
Not much else is known about the names, ages and situations of the patients from the Netherlands and Belgium.
Re-infection cases reported so far, including in May in South Korea, are believed to be a result of false positives in testing. Reported cases in the US, including in LA and New Jersey, were not confirmed through genetic testing.
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