In the Netherlands, an 89-year-old woman died after being infected with the corona virus for the second time. Virologist Marion Koopmans and the Erasmus MC hospital confirm this after reporting in various Dutch media.
The woman had fallen ill for the first time earlier this year. She had a fever and was coughing. A test showed that she had the coronavirus among the members. After five days she was allowed to leave the hospital. Her symptoms disappeared, although she remained tired. Almost two months later she became ill again. She had a fever and shortness of breath and had to cough. Eight days later her condition deteriorated and she died about two weeks later.
Cancer
Koopmans thinks that the corona infection has become fatal to the woman “but she was already seriously ill”. The woman was already suffering from Waldenstrom’s disease, a form of cancer in which a certain type of white blood cells are produced without restriction. The treatment affects the immune system.
Two variants
The researchers compared the ‘fingerprint’ of the virus with the virus from which she died. It turned out to be two different versions of the corona virus, so the woman had actually become infected again. It was already known that some ex-patients had become infected again.
According to medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, there have been five confirmed cases worldwide, including in our country and in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Ecuador and the US state of Nevada. In addition, cases have also been documented by researchers in South Korea and Israel, bringing the number of scientifically proven reinfections to at least twenty.
Alarming
There are not many, but it is alarming, partly because the actual number may be a lot higher, scientists suspect. We do not even know that many people are infected and those who tested positive (for a second time) are not always investigated whether it is a recontamination. The procedure for this is difficult to carry out on a large scale.
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