The first confirmed case of a person being re-infected with coronavirus in the U.S. has become a 25-year-old Nevada man, researchers said Monday.
According to a case study published in the medical journal The Lancet, the patient became infected with two different genetic strains of COVID-19 in less than two months.
“The second infection was more severe in terms of symptoms than the first,” the study authors wrote.
The man, who has no underlying condition, was originally tested positive for the virus on April 18, and experienced symptoms including headache, cough, nausea and diarrhea.
It fell apart, got better and then tested negative twice in May.
But by the end of that month, he went to the immediate care center with the same symptoms, which he had experienced before, plus fever and dizziness.
On June 5, he tested positive again.
The patient was admitted to the hospital after suffering from shortness of breath and the need for supplemental oxygen. Eventually he recovered.
The fact that this person has tested negative twice during a conflict with this illness means that he or she has had a prolonged infection, according to the study authors.
The researchers said the case suggests that exposure to bugs does not guarantee immunity in all cases.
“All individuals, whether previously diagnosed with COVID-19, should take the same precautions to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the scientists wrote.
Similar cases of coronavirus re-infection have been published in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ecuador.
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