After Hong Kong & Telangana, first case of COVID-19 reinfection reported in Bengaluru

Soon after Telangana's COVID-19 reinfection cases, the first case of COVID-19 reinfection has been reported in Bengaluru on Sunday. A 27-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 a month after recovering.

She first got infected with coronavirus in July and was discharged after testing negative, but a month later she again developed symptoms of the virus and tested positive, according to Bengaluru's Fortis Hospital.

"In the first week of July, the patient was symptomatic (fever, cough and sore throat) and was tested positive. She was admitted to the hospital and recovered well. A repeat test was conducted on her, which turned out to be negative, post which she was discharged on July 24. However, nearly after one month, in the last week of August, she developed mild symptoms again and has been tested positive again. Both times she did not have severe disease," said Dr Pratik Patil from Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru. 

He further said that usually the coronavirus patients test positive for COVID-19 antibodies after 2-3 weeks of being infected but this patient tested negative. Chances are that she did not develop immunity or the COVID-19 Immunoglobulin G antibodies disappeared in about one month which made her vulnerable to reinfection, added Dr Patil. This case may mean that not every patient develops immunity/antibodies or that it may not last long enough to keep them protected from COVID-19 reinfection said the Bengaluru doctor. 

ICMR had earlier assured that there is 'no need to be alarmed' following the Hong Kong's COVID-19 reinfection case.

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WHO on COVID-19 reinfections

Earlier, Hong Kong reported a man who contracted coronavirus for the second time after over four months. The University of Hong Kong scientists announced that current coronavirus strain is different from the one that infected the man months ago. Following this, the World Health Organization said that there is very little possibility of people being reinfected with COVID-19.

Read | After Hong Kong, Telangana Reports 2 COVID-19 Reinfections Raising Concerns About Immunity

"The important – other important - thing to note is the numbers are very, very small. So this is one documented case in over 23 million and we will probably see other documented cases. But it seems to be not a regular event, we would have seen many more cases, " said WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris 

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WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris also said that they have prioritised the need to understand how this will impact our immunity. WHO has research groups tracking people and antibodies and working on understanding how long the antibodies last and protect the person as well as the natural immunity, Dr Margaret further said. She also added that WHO is doing its best to understand the immunity and protection that a vaccine might be able to provide.

Read | WHO: Virus Reinfection Seems Not To Be Regular Event

(With inputs from ANI & AP)