A Dutch corona patient has been re-infected with the virus, virologist Marion Koopmans told the WE. It is said to be an elderly patient with a deteriorated immune system.
The virologist emphasizes that the prevention of recontamination with the virus was in line with expectations. “Respiratory infections can strike twice, or more often. We know that you are not protected for life if you have had the infection and we expect that with covid,” Koopmans told the WE.
One can speak of an official reinfection if the RNA, a genetic code unique to each infection, differs from that of a previous infection. This prevents the virus particles from being left over from a previous infection, the virologist explains.
There is not yet an unambiguous explanation as to how the patients could become infected again. The amount of antibodies produced by a patient may possibly have played a role in reinfection. For example, donor blood from corona patients has shown that people with more severe complaints often built up more antibodies than people with mild complaints. In addition, it has not yet been established how long the antibodies built up will protect against a subsequent infection, Koopmans says.
A reinfection has also been reported in Belgium, said virus lye Marc van Ranst on the television program on Monday evening To the point of the Flemish broadcaster VRT. According to Van Ranst, this is a woman with mild complaints who had a “second outbreak” three months after the first infection. Van Ranst emphasizes that these are probably exceptions, “we have not seen many yet”.
Recontamination first scientifically demonstrated in Hong Kong
On Monday, researchers in Hong Kong confirmed for the first time a second infection with the corona virus. Although a possible recontamination was previously reported in several places in the world, it has now been scientifically proven for the first time.
According to the researchers, this is a ‘apparently young and healthy patient’ who was diagnosed with a second infection 4.5 months after the first case. The virus material from his second infection in August turned out to be different from the virus material he was carrying during his first infection in April.
The discovery suggests that immunity after corona infection may last as little as a few months in some patients. This would make the coronavirus more like the regular flu virus than related viruses such as the SARS and MERS virus.
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