Some Recovered Coronavirus Patients Are Testing Positive For It Again

by Sanjana Shenoy
Some Recovered Coronavirus Patients Are Testing Positive For It Again

Coronavirus has spread at an unprecedented rate across the world, infecting around 150,000 and claiming lives of over 6000. And while there are around 73,000 people who have recovered from Covid-19, there are still certain cases of coronavirus patients who were tested positive again even after recovery. A report by South China Morning Post stated that a 36-year-old Chinese man died due to respiratory failure, five days after being discharged. Osaka’s prefectural government revealed that a female tour guide contracted coronavirus for the second time, three weeks after her recovery. Another report by NHK Japan depicted a case where a Japanese man contracted coronavirus again for the second time after recovery.

Picture Credits: todayonline.com

What’s In It?

Zhan Quingyuan, the director of pneumonia prevention and treatment at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing mentioned that while many coronavirus patients were able to fight the virus after being infected, but there were some individuals where the antibodies did not last as long as they should. Coronavirus can come once again in a person’s body through relapse or if it’s transferred through a host. Today tests detecting Covid-19 are known as RT-PCR (Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction). This takes pieces of the genetic code of a virus. The test is designed in a manner to only take chunks that are unique to Covid-19.

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According to the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, some researchers are of the opinion that having infection again doesn’t mean its contagious. Stanley Perlman, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa stated that Genomic material comes from a virus, but doesn’t indicate the infectious coronavirus is present. Through (RT-PCR) researchers and doctors can figure out if the virus is contagious. He further added that patients might be patient carriers or they might have viral genomic material without any infectious virus. It’s all vague at present as its difficult to know if its infectious or not. Did you know AIIMS Doctor stated Eating Non-Veg Food DOES NOT Result In Coronavirus Infections?

Picture Credits: nypost.com

What’s More?

While most studies are in nascent stages, researchers from a recent study in JAMA conducted on one hospitalised patient and three home-quarantined who were treated at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan University, have thrown light on the altering and current criteria where a hospital indicates a person fit for discharge, at least till they get access to vaccines to contain the spread entirely. As of now, there is no set solution to prevent the virus from occurring again. The criteria, for now, involves normal temperature for at least three days, resolved respiratory symptoms, improvement in lesions on CT scans of the chest as well as negative RT-PCR tests, at least one day apart. But for now, it’s best to take at most precautions like refraining travel, avoiding crowded places and keeping maintaining stringent measures to keep oneself and surroundings sanitized.