Hong Kong reports first coronavirus reinfection

Hong Kong – A man became infected with the coronavirus after recovering from the first attack in April in what scientists said was the first case that showed that reinfection could occur within a few months.

The 33-year-old’s second SARS-CoV-2 infection was discovered via screening at airport on his return to Hong Kong from Europe this month. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong used genomic sequence analysis to prove that he was infected by two different strains. The information technology employee did not develop any symptoms of his second infection, indicating that “subsequent infections may be milder”, the researchers said.

“Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may be present in humans,” Kwok-Yung Yuen and colleagues said in a paper accepted Monday for publication in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The findings suggest the coronaviruses that cause the common cold, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 may continue to circulate “even if patients have been granted immunity through natural infection or through vaccination,” they said.

Although some patients have tested positive for the virus in several weeks, even after their symptoms have resolved, scientists have not fully understood whether these cases reflect spattering traces of the virus, a recurrence of an infection, or a new infection.

This is “the world’s first documentation of a patient recovering from COVID-19 but eventually receiving another episode of COVID-19,” the researchers said in an email.

Worldwide, some 24 million people are known to be infected with COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, told reporters in Geneva on Monday. Most patients – even those who have a mild case – reach an immune response to the infection, she said. What is not known is how strong and how long that response will take.

It is important to document cases such as the one described in Hong Kong, “but do not jump to some conclusions,” Van Kerkhove said. Studies that follow larger numbers of cases over time are needed to better understand the quality and sustainability of the neutralized anti-inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2, she said.

“Before this report, many believe that recovered COVID-19 patients have immunity to re-infection, but there is evidence that some patients have a declining antibody level after a few months,” said researchers at the University of Hong Kong. in the statement.