COVID-19 Reinfection in Telangana: Two Reinfection Cases Confirmed
At a time when lab-confirmed reinfection in Hong Kong (with a gap of four and a half months between the two infections) has raised concerns that immunity to the novel coronavirus can be short-lived, two cases of Covid-19 reinfection was reported, with a gap of around two months between the infections among medical professionals in Telangana.
Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao, Director of Public Health said that the patients were initially completely asymptomatic, and the reinfections were diagnosed in the capital Hyderabad. He said that experts are now trying to figure out if they were exposed to two different strains of the novel coronavirus, and added that the patients had undergone RT-PCR tests on both occasions.
Confirming the reinfections, the Health Minister Eatala Rajender said, “We are learning about the virus daily as it is new. There are chances for people to get infected again if they are not developing antibodies in enough amounts and there is no guarantee that coronavirus will not come again in those who were infected before. For battling the pandemic, the main drug is courage.”
According to the health minister’s office, even as both patients have been put
in home isolation, in order to assess the causes of the reinfections, the details of both cases had been shared with the Indian Council of Medical Research.Earlier, in Delhi, a policeman on duty had also tested positive a second time in July. Additionally, at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, doctors claimed that a 54-year-old woman positive once again through an RT-PCR test though she had tested negative after a bout of Covid-19 in April. This case is not yet confirmed by the Gujarat government.
Before Telangana confirmed the reinfections, Balram Bhargava, the ICMR Director-General said at a press briefing that the Hong Kong case could depend on various factors, and it was a “stray example”.
He said that the cause for reinfection can depend on several factors, it could be related to how is a patient’s immunity, was it compromised, how was the patient’s immune status, or it can also depend upon the virus, whether the virus has mutated or turned virulent. He stated the example of measles and said that it’s a rare occurrence for the same person to get measles a second time as once it infects someone, that person has lifelong immunity.
However, other experts remain concerned about the reinfections. A part of ICMR’s research task force on epidemiology and surveillance, Giridhar Babu of the Public Health Foundation of India said that it is very difficult to establish the evidence of reinfection of the Covid-19.
He added saying that it is too early to infer if different strains are infecting Indians based upon the available evidence. He also explained that distinguishing reinfection from chronic post-viral symptoms of Covid-19 and other viral infections is also difficult.
K. Sujatha Rao, former Union health secretary said that it is crucial for Covid patients to not take the pandemic lightly after recovering from the infection. Even after a Covid-19 patient recovers, the discomfort in the lungs and other effects can continue to exist. Although we are seeing cases even in India after South Korea and Hong Kong, we still need more evidence to understand the reinfection cases.
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COVID-19 Reinfection in Telangana: Two Reinfection Cases Confirmed
