New Delhi|Ekta
Patients who have become recovered from corona may have chances of getting infection again.
Two such cases have been seen in Delhi based Sir Ganga Ram hospital. Here a female staff and another patient showed signs of corona again after recovering from corona. Both reports came out corona positive from RTPCR investigation.
Stayed at 17 days home isolation
As per information, a female health worker of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital came positive from RTPCR. She was hospitalized after a high fever. Stayed at home quarantine for 17 days. The patient was initially admitted to COVID facility for 3 days but later the patient was shifted to home quarantine for 17 days in view of mild nature of her illness. She was retested before rejoining work at the hospital and was found to be negative for COVID 19. She resumed her daily activity and went back to her normal life. After 2 months, she developed a fresh episode of cough, generalised weakness and malaise. The patient was investigated and was found to be COVID 19 positive once again. She was readmitted in the COVID facility and tested negative in few days after being diagnosed. During the course, patient was tested for COVID 19 antibodies but her antibody levels were negative.
Another patient, a middle-aged man, who was a known case of diabetes mellitus, had liver involvement due to alcohol and renal involvement due to diabetes. He had nasal discharge and was subsequently found to have a fungal infection of sinuses (mucormycosis) in addition to COVID 19 infection (RT PCR). He was treated with antifungal and other supportive medications and about 10 days later he was tested negative for COVID and discharged home. He was readmitted due to abdominal distension 25 days later and required hospitalization during which he was retested and found COVID 19 positive.
Doctor’s View
According to Senior Consultant and Vice chairman of the Department of Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Dr. Atul Kakar, “So far, re-infection with COVID has been considered as a rare possibility. Both these cases follow the defined criteria of re-infection. However, in ideal circumstances, gene sequencing should have been done in both cases. The antibody levels to COVID may have waxing weaning course but maybe found up to 3 to 6 months post-infection”. In the last six months, we have seen around five thousand patients and only these two cases came of re-infection, so there is a rare chance of re-infection.
photo:Healthlive
Recovered patients need extra precautions
In view of the above finding, patient’s who recover from COVID 19 should continue precautions like social distancing, hand washing and wearing a mask in public places to avoid such re-infections.
Development of antibodies depends on various factors
At the time of recovery, patients develop antibodies against COVID after 1 to 3 weeks from the onset of symptoms. The development of these antibodies depends on multiple factors including the severity of the infection and the patient’s immune response to the infection. Thus a patient who has mild disease may not mount a good immune response and may not develop antibodies.
