Researchers in Hong Kong said a 33-year-old man had contracted the coronavirus for the second time. This happened more than four months after the first infection. This is the first officially documented case of reinfection. writes The New York Times.
The man's first case was diagnosed on March 26 and had only mild symptoms. Later, tests were twice negative. But on August 15, after a trip to Spain, another coronavirus test was again positive. Moreover, the researchers identified exactly the strain that was common in Europe in the summer.
The discovery was not unexpected, experts said, especially given the millions of infected people around the world. The second time, the man had no symptoms - this suggests that his immune the system partially contained the virus.
Akiko Iwasaki, immunologist at Yale University“The second infection was completely asymptomatic - his immune response prevented an exacerbation of the disease. This is a kind of textbook example of how immunity should work. "
However, according to Dr. Iwasaki, people who do not have
symptoms coronavirus can infect others, highlighting the importance of vaccines, especially for herd immunity.Cases of re-illnesses have been repeatedly recorded earlier. However, none of them have been confirmed by rigorous research. Recovered people are known to retain viral fragments for several weeks, which can lead to positive test results in the absence of an active virus.
Coronavirus. Number of infected:
23 812 132
in the world961 493
in RussiaRead also🧐
- Is the coronavirus transmitted by air and should everyone wear masks
- New mutation makes coronavirus even more infectious
- The consequences of the coronavirus can be lifelong. Here's what is known about it