The IGIB team has also established reinfection in four health workers from Mumbai, three from Nair Hospital and one from Hinduja. The city’s results were submitted to a world medical journal for publication six days ago.
Stating that his lab work demonstrated Covid-19 reinfection in India, IGIB Director Dr Anurag Agarwal told TOI: “Aside from the two cases in a Noida hospital, our lab has found variations in six other samples. While four are from Mumbai, another two are from a Delhi hospital. ”
Using genetic sequencing, a team from IGIB has so far analyzed samples from 16 healthcare workers (HCWs) from across the country. Two PS swab samples, one from the first infection and one from the second, were used for sequencing.
In the case of the Noida health workers, a 25-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, the test showed nine variations between the two SARS-CoV2 viruses that infected them. Healthcare workers tested positive for PCR for the first time on May 5 and 17 respectively; the second time was on August 21 and September 5 respectively. The IGIB sequencing machine takes about 24 hours to establish genetic differences.
Dr Rakesh Gupta from the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, said that both healthcare workers were asymptomatic on both occasions. “While one is admitted to our hospital for observation, the other is in home isolation,” he added.
Dr. Shridhar Sivasubbu from IGIB said that these healthcare workers could be diagnosed only due to ongoing surveillance carried out in collaboration with IGIB. “Without surveillance, these workers could have carried the infection, exposing their family members, colleagues and patients,” he said.
“Our analysis suggests that asymptomatic reinfection may be potentially under-reported,” said the preprint IGIB. However, on Tuesday, the director of the Indian Medical Research Council, Dr. Balram Bhargava, said that reinfections have been observed globally, but that they are “very rare” and that they are not a “cause for serious concern. “.
In Mumbai, three cases of reinfection were suspected among healthcare workers at BYL Nair Hospital and one at PD Hinduja Hospital. Nair’s three doctors had tested for Covid-19 a second time between one and three months after recovering from their first episode. Among them were a resident physician from the department of medicine, a senior medical officer and an additional professor from the department of anesthesia.
The anesthesia teacher, in her 40s, suffered the second episode exactly three months after the first infection. Dr. Charulata Deshpande, head of the department, recalled that the doctor had symptoms such as a dry cough, severe body pain and a sore throat during the first infection, while the massive exhaustion alerted her to the infection a second time. “As it was the second time she was infected, we closely observed her condition. To our relief, she has recovered well, ”she said. Since then, the professor has resumed his work.
The 27-year-old resident physician from the department of medicine tested positive for the second time in a month. His symptomatic period was 9 to 10 days in the first episode and 8 to 9 days in the second. “His symptoms were almost similar during both episodes. Fever and cough were common, ”said one of the batchmates. The resident has also resumed work. However, a suspected case of reinfection at Sion Hospital from an anesthesia resident has not been studied in detail, a hospital doctor said.
Samples from Mumbai were initially processed by Nair Hospital’s microbiology department and BMC’s molecular diagnostic laboratory at Kasturba Hospital before being sent to the IGIB laboratory. BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said initial tests showed a genome sequence not normally found in SARS-CoV2. “We have now sent the samples to Pune for further research on the genome. We are waiting for more communications, ”he said.
The reinfection has made headlines since a Hong Kong lab tested it using whole genome sequencing in late August. Random cases have been reported throughout the world, including the United States and the Netherlands. If reinfection is more common than expected, the vaccination rules for Covid-19 should be developed accordingly.
ICMR Director Dr. Bhargava said: “One point has been made. In cases of reinfection, both infections (episodes) have been mild and therefore reinfection occurs ”, he said.
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