A woman who was infected with the coronavirus in July and had recovered from an early attack, has shown the symptoms of re-infection. Doctors claimed it to be the first case that is showing re-infection can occur in a few months.

On Sunday, Fortis Hospital confirmed that the 27-year-old woman, a resident of Bengaluru had tested positive again almost a month after she was treated and discharged from the hospital. The hospital said that this is the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection in Bengaluru.

Dr Pratik Patil, consultant, infectious diseases, at Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, said that in the 1st week of July, the patient was admitted as she was symptomatic i.e. fever, cough and sore throat and was also tested positive for coronavirus. She recovered well and then was discharged after a repeat test which came out negative for the virus. But, almost after a month, in the last week of August, she had developed mild symptoms again and was tested positive again. Both times she didn’t have severe disease.

He further said that it is perhaps the first reported case of COVID-19 reinfection in Bengaluru. Usually, the COVID Immunoglobulin G antibody is positive after 2-3 weeks of infection, but in this patient, the antibody was negative, signifying that she did not develop immunity after the infection.

The worlds 1st COVID-19 reinfection was confirmed in Hong Kong on 24th August. Telangana health Minister Eatala Rajender said that there are two cases of coronavirus reinfection in the state. Also, a doctor in Mumbai has tested positive for the 2nd time after two months.

Indian Council of Medical Research had said earlier that there was no need to be alarmed immensely on the reinfection case of coronavirus that was reported in Hong Kong. However, it maintained that it is still not known about the duration of the immunity that lasts in case of coronavirus.

ICMR director-general Balram Bhargava said that they are learning ever more about the disease as they are moving ahead. It can depend on numerous factors such as the person is related to the patient and also depends on his immunity, his immune status whether compromised or not. Also, it can depend upon the virus, whether the virus has mutated or has become virulent.It is important to find out about how long the immunity can last.

Health experts are believing that people who had COVID-19, would have some immunity against a repeat infection, however dont know how much protection it would provide, or how long it would be. This is an important subject because if immunity wears off, it might pose a challenge for producing vaccines. Few experts also said that booster shots might be required.

According to the data that was released by the Union health ministry, India’s COVID-19 total number of cases has crossed 41 lakhs with a record of 90,632 people infected in a single day. The total number of coronavirus cases has reached to 41,13,811, whereas the death count has reached to 70,626.

Source: live mint