Men are infected again four months after being infected with another Sars-CoV-2 variant

GettyImages / FOLResearchers from Hong Kong have, according to their own statements, detected a re-infection with the corona virus.

Tuesday, 08/25/2020, 8:28 am

At the end of March, a man in Hong Kong fell ill with the corona virus. He was healthy again in mid-April, as confirmed by two negative tests in the hospital. Now the surprise: He got the virus again. The trigger is a different strand of the virus than the first time.

For the first time, scientists said they were able to demonstrate re-infection with Sars-CoV-2 in a patient. The researchers from the University of Hong Kong report on a healthy, young patient who became infected again with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus four and a half months after an infection that had already been overcome. They want to publish their findings in the specialist journal “Clinical Infectious Diseases”.

In the hospital with Covid-19
The 33-year-old patient is said to have been routinely tested for Sars-CoV-2 on his return from Europe. An infection with the virus was found even though he had been infected more than four months ago.

The first infection was found on March 26th. The patient complained of a sore throat, fever and headache at the time and was hospitalized on March 29 because of his Covid-19 illness. He was released on April 14th after two negative PCR tests.

Patient infected again - but with a different virus variant
On August 15, the patient returned from Spain to Hong Kong via Great Britain and tested positive for the virus again on arrival. According to the scientists' report, the patient remained symptom-free and fever-free until recently with this infection.

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The researchers from the University of Hong Kong now examined the virus strains and found that the two infections are different virus genomes - the patient has actually become infected again with a different variant of the virus. Their findings show that the first genome most closely resembles the strands observed in the United States or England in March and April. The second is more in line with those observed in Switzerland and England in July and August.

"Sars-CoV-2 can be preserved in human populations worldwide"
The scientists from Hong Kong are not the first researchers to have observed a re-infection with Sars-CoV-2. However, you are the first to be able to prove that the two infections are different virus strands.

“Our findings suggest that Sars-CoV-2 can be retained in the human population worldwide, similar to other common cold viruses - even if patients have become immune from an infection. Since the immunity could not last long after a natural infection, those who were already infected should also think about a vaccination, ”the authors of Kelvin Kai-Wang to write in a communication from the university. They warn: Covid patients who have already recovered should also continue to adhere to protective measures such as everyday masks and social distancing.