Two people in China who recovered from the novel coronavirus a few months ago have since tested positive for COVID-19 again, emphasizing concerns about the possibility of reinfection.
A 68-year-old woman in Hubei, China, tested positive on Sunday, six months after she was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and returned. In addition, a man in Shanghai who tested positive for the virus on Monday tested positive again on Monday, although he apparently showed no symptoms, according to a Bloomberg report.
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Those in close contact with the patients were not tested positive, although they are in quarantine, local authorities said, per Bloomberg.
The two cases raise the question of reinfection and immunity regarding the new coronavirus. According to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health website, the possibility of reinfection is low. Researchers are currently trying to understand how a person’s immunity to the virus can be measured with antibody tests.
A recent study published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found patients who received new coronavirus and re-positive tests were not infected. The researchers stated in a news release that the viral material collected in the test found dead virus. The study also found that most patients who recovered had neutralizing antibodies that could protect a person from becoming ill again.
The researchers in the Korea study tested 790 people who were in close contact with the patients who re-tested positive for the virus. The researchers said 27 tested positive, although none of the cases appeared to be caused by exposure to someone who was re-infected.
Meanwhile, other studies show that the antibodies present in an infected person drop rapidly after a few months, possibly indicating that they may be susceptible to the same virus a second time.
However, another recent study showed that so-called ‘T cells’ have the ability to provide immunity after the patient’s recovery from the virus.
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“If they were just testing positive, I would do a culture to determine if this is just residual RNA or an actual second infection,” to exclude if a person has an active case, Drs. Gary Simon, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, told Fox News in an email.
Dr. Glatt Aaron E. Glatt, a specialist in infectious diseases in New York, called the report of the two patients in China who tested positive again unusual.
“So far, according to the official [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] website there has been no proven case of COVID-19 occurring [the] second time in a patient. There have been anecdotal reports of such occurrences, but the documentation in such earlier cases was lacking, “Glatt, also a fellow for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told Fox News.” These two cases, if any, would represent an important new finding, although still a very rare occurrence. “
“If there is a suspicion of re-infection, repeated isolation and tracing contact may be required. The determination of whether a patient with a subsequent positive test is contagious to others should be made on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with infectious disease specialists and public health authorities, after evaluating available information, “according to the CDC.
