Can you get infected with the virus from China a second time? It turns out that yes, which is confirmed by cases from China and Japan - in nearly 14 percent. of people believed to be cured, the COVID-19 infection has reappeared.

Contents:

  1. Chinese Coronavirus: Dormant Virus
  2. Coronavirus from China: are secondary infections dangerous?

The Reuters news agency recently reported on secondary coronavirus infections from China with SARS-CoV-2. Re-infections with the virus have occurred in the southern provinces of China.

About 14 percent were infected. patients who had mild to moderate infection and were discharged home after recovery. After some time, some of them came to hospitals with recurring symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Re-tests showed that some of them had become re-infected.

A similar situation took place in the Japanese prefecture of Osaka, where a 40-year-old guide, who had been treated in a hospital for COVID-19, was re-diagnosed with the virus less than three weeks after she was considered cured (the woman was discharged from the hospital on February 1, and pre-discharge tests confirmed that she was he althy). Soon after, she went to the hospital with a severe sore throat, shortness of breath and chest pain.

Chinese Coronavirus: Dormant Virus

Why are secondary coronavirus infections occurring? It is not known yet.

As prof. Philip Tierno Jr., professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University, the Wuhan coronavirus probably has the ability to go into dormancy - then it shows no or very little symptoms of infection.

However, once it reaches the lungs, the patient's condition may deteriorate rapidly.

Coronavirus from China: are secondary infections dangerous?

Some experts suspect that there is another scenario as well: people who have been discharged from the hospital may have contracted the coronavirus again, for example by airborne droplets, from people met on the street or from infected relatives. And as the latest research shows, it is not difficult, because the virus stays in the air for about 30 minutes, and a sick person can infect others within a radius of 4-5 meters.

It is also likely that fragments of material remained in their bodiesgenetic virus. It is not known whether people considered cured are not carriers of the virus, i.e. they infect others, although they themselves do not have any symptoms of infection.

It is also too early to assess how secondary COVID-19 infection is progressing and whether it is life-threatening.

Together Against Coronavirus

Worth knowing

Secondary coronavirus infection is not the same as secondary coronavirus outbreak - the latter occurs when people in an area become ill who have never been to China, Italy or other areas affected by the outbreak.

Find out more about the coronavirus:

  • How to wash your hands?
  • Antibacterial gels and fluids - do they protect against SARS-CoV-2 virus?

Category:

Infectious diseases