[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH), with a panel of experts, detected the first case of probable Covid-19 reinfection in Singapore.
On Saturday (February 6), the Health Ministry said the 28-year-old Bangladeshi national has a work permit and resides in a dormitory at 43 Tech Park Crescent.
He had been confirmed to have the Covid-19 infection on April 12 last year and subsequently recovered, consistently testing negative for the infection as of June.
But on January 25, his test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection and he was isolated.
Numerous repeat tests performed subsequently were also positive for the virus.
It was identified from the listed follow-up tests performed as part of the Ministry of Health surveillance of the recovered workers to monitor their post-infection immunity.
He reported feeling unwell on January 22 and 23, but was otherwise asymptomatic.
The Health Ministry said that while reinfection is rare, the expert panel, which includes infectious disease and microbiology experts from the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Singapore General Hospital and the National Public Health Laboratory, assessed that clinical and laboratory evidence suggests that this is likely. case of reinfection.
The Ministry of Health added: “In addition to the positive results of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, there was a corresponding marked increase in antibody titers compared to the period before probable reinfection, suggesting that he was exposed to a new infection that increased his antibody levels. “
He also noted that the virus detected in his samples taken in January this year is also genetically different from the one associated with the bedroom outbreak last year, suggesting that it is likely a new and different infection.
“The Health Ministry will continue to closely monitor recovered Covid-19 cases to determine their post-infection immunity. So far, there is no indication that recovered workers in dormitories have a significant loss of post-infection immunity.” the ministry said.
On Saturday, the Health Ministry reported 26 new cases, all imported. There were no new cases of locally transmitted infection.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased from three cases in the week before to one case in the last week.
The number of unrelated cases in the community has also decreased from two cases in the previous week to one case in the last week.
[ad_2]
