Brazilian study suggests Covid-19 reinfection is possible

A study conducted by the University of São Paulo (USP) School of Medicine showed that it is possible for humans to contract symptomatic cases of Covid-19 multiple times. The results came from the Hospital das Clínicas in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo where a nursing technician tested positive for Covid-19 on May 13 and again on June 27. The patient first showed Covid-19 symptoms on May 6 after being exposed to an infected colleague. The symptoms ceased after 10 days and the technician was cleared to return to work soon thereafter.

However, 38 days later, on June 27, the patient awoke with a severe headache, body soreness, fever, throat pain, and loss of taste and smell. She was later diagnosed with Covid-19 a second time. The research claims that her case “presents strong evidence for not only reinfection by SARS-CoV-2, as well as recurrence of symptoms.”

The study also says that there is a remote chance that one or both exams might have presented false positive results, but researchers do not believe that to be the case, given the large amount of strong clinical evidence.

The research concludes that the case favors the “reinfection hypothesis,” but additional information is needed to conclude if that is indeed a possibility for all Covid-19 patients. As of now, the only other similar reinfection occurrence has been registered in a patient in the city of Boston in the U.S., researchers point out.

On June 15, Sidney Klajner, president of the renowned Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo, warned that extended immunity among Covid-19 survivors was uncertain.

• #outbreak
• #research