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However, the researchers said his natural immune response might still have been “sufficient” to fight Covid-19, as the type of cancer treatment he received “does not necessarily result in a life-threatening disease.
The patient was initially admitted to the hospital earlier this year with a severe cough and fever, testing positive for Covid-19.
She was discharged five days later when “in addition to some persistent fatigue, her symptoms disappeared completely,” according to the report.
But two days after chemotherapy treatment, 59 days after the start of the first Covid-19 episode, the woman developed a fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
Once again, he tested positive for coronavirus and no antibodies were detected in his blood system when he was tested on days four and six. His condition deteriorated on the eighth.
Two weeks later, the woman died.
The woman was not tested between infections, so the researchers have no confirmed negative tests. However, when examining the samples from both cases, they found that the genetic makeup of the two viruses was different.
Therefore, they concluded that “it is likely that the second episode was a reinfection rather than a prolonged molt.”
The man is the first in the United States to be documented as reinfected. According to researchers from The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a medical journal, it tested positive for Covid-19 in April and again in June, showing symptoms in both cases, such as a sore throat, cough, headache, nausea and diarrhea.
The man had no underlying health problems but, like the Dutch woman, he suffered a more serious episode the second time.
However, unlike the Dutch woman, the man developed a measurable antibody response after the second episode. The researchers were unable to conclude how long the man was immune, or if he ever was.
In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers said: “Re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 has been reported in at least four people worldwide. Therefore, prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2 does not necessarily translate into guaranteed total immunity.
“The implications of reinfections could be relevant for vaccine development and application. From a public health perspective, all people, whether previously diagnosed or not, should take the same precautions to prevent infection with SARS-CoV. -2. More work is needed to assess immunity reactions in vitro after reinfection. “
He was re-infected 4.5 months after initially contracting the virus, and showed no symptoms the second time.
In the report of the Dutch woman’s case, the researchers said that Covid-19 reinfections are expected to occur once antibodies drop and immunity wanes.
