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The case of a Roman girl the example of how sometimes the coronavirus is hard to beat by the immune defenses of our body. A 25-year-old girl struggling with Covid for weeks: she fell ill in October with severe symptoms and then is believed to be cured, after a month of remission she is now positive again to molecular swab, with pain and high fever.
The iconic story
I started to feel bad in mid-October – the young woman tells ANSA – but the first rapid swab on October 13 was negative. Since I was still feeling bad, I did a second molecular smear at the Fiumicino drive-in on October 20 and it came back positive. The first time, the symptoms ranged from severe pain in the muscles, with a low-grade fever, to quite severe breathing difficulties, despite the fact that the patient was always followed at home by her GP. On October 30, he underwent a new negative molecular smear at Sant’Andrea hospital. On November 13th, the second negative buffer arrived, at the drive-in theater in Santa Maria della Piet. A few days ago, the father fell ill with Covid-19, apparently due to an outbreak in the workplace. As a precaution – says the girl – in the family we all rub: I tested positive for the molecular, had a fever of 38.5 and now I have muscle aches again.
The risk of quick tampons
The story of the Roman girl emblematic of some eventualities that may arise for people battling coronavirus: First of all any failure of a quick test. Currently, the data available for the different tests are those declared by the manufacturer: on average 70-86% sensitivity (where high sensitivity corresponds to a few false negatives) and 95-97% specificity (where high specificity corresponds to few false positives). ). Rapid tests can fail and are not sensitive enough to detect the presence of the virus in small amounts, which occurs early in an infection, when people are most contagious, or at the end of an infection. We talk about rapid tests HERE.
Relapse or new contagion (and disease)?
The second focus on the new disease: as we read in the agency, there are no certain elements to affirm if it is a relapse of the first disease or a real one reinfection. The fact is that the girl was ill first, then it seemed that she had recovered and is now fighting the virus again. In several cases (especially in people who have been hospitalized) Covid has been seen to remain within the body and lungs: people with tampons who never deny themselves, or people who, at very close range, first receive a negative tampon and then a positive one. In this case, when the two infections seem very close, it is more of a relapse. Like when a flu seems old-fashioned and leads us to go out too early, with the consequence of forcing us to go back to bed. There are also cases of new (second) infection of the coronavirus. I’m very rare but they exist: not all, during the first infection, develop antibodies that defend them from the virus in the second encounter. Especially those who had zero or few symptoms the first time.
With the vaccine we will be protected
To be sure of reinfection, you must have the genetic sequence virus detected the first and second time and compare the differences. Generally, in case of reinfection, the sequences are slightly different. These are difficult analyzes to perform outside of controlled studies at this stage. What we know for now that they are rare cases, but they do happen, is that the the vaccine will defend us from this eventuality because it develops a stronger than physiological immune system antibody response. And at the immunological level, there are no reasons not to vaccinate those who have already fallen ill with Covid.
December 14, 2020 (change December 14, 2020 | 18:41)
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