Coronavirus reinfection cases demonstrate pandemic complexity

The terrible thing finally happened: someone caught the coronavirus twice, Got sick Second time. A 25-year-old man from Nevada acquired COVID-19 in March, his symptoms improved in April, and he fell ill again in May. He had worse symptoms in the second match and was so bad he needed to be hospitalized.

Three other cases of confirmed reinfection were also reported this week. One is Hong Kong (first recorded case) and two are Europe. These do not necessarily make me I was already worried But about our vaccine outlook, and that doesn’t mean that the pandemic will last forever. There are four recorded cases of reinfection. But this is currently the rare of the 24 million cases of this disease. Most experts expected at least a few to meet.

There have been occasional case reports of people who had had two positive COVID-19 reactions for several months. None of them have been proven to be reinfection. For most of those people, the second test probably detected a dead virus that remained in the nose and throat of people after the initial infection.

But in these reinfection cases, the researchers actually analyzed the virus when people got sick and compared it with the virus when they got sick a second time. In both cases, the two viruses Slightly different gene sequences, Shows that the second positive test was not the only virus that remained.

Another important point is: In Hong Kong, the second infection caused no symptoms. That means that his immune system probably recognized the virus from the first infection and suppressed it. We don’t know why it didn’t happen to men in Nevada. It is possible that he did not make antibodies because he did not have an antibody test when he first got sick. It’s a more promising option. The other possibility is that he had antibodies, but they exacerbated the infection, which happens with other viruses like Dengue.

The case study answers only one question. Can you catch COVID-19 twice? But that’s all they do. Most of the time, you ask a question rather than answer. How common is reinfection? How infectious are people if they get sick a second time? Is the only person who does not produce a lot of antibodies when they get the virus for the first time to get the virus again?

While the pandemic feels like it has been going on for a million years, more realistically, the coronavirus has been in the human population for only about nine months. Scientists learned many things very quickly, but there is still a long way to go. The human immune system is strange and confusing, countering new viruses that have never been seen before. It takes time to understand what is happening.

Oh, and the other thing-this is a reminder that you need to be careful, even if you already have COVID-19.

Other things happening this week are:

the study

Researchers say the Biogen conference likely caused 20,000 COVID-19 cases in the Boston area

Prior to knowing the scope of COVID-19 in the United States in February, 175 biotechnology executives met at a conference in Boston. According to one analysis, the conference spread the virus from participant to participant and the outbreak eventually led to tens of thousands of cases worldwide. This study shows that even small gatherings can have widespread and catastrophic spillover effects on pandemic progression. (Jonathan Salzman/ Boston Grove)

Four scenarios on how to increase resistance to Covid-19

A few months have passed since the pandemic, but scientists still don’t know what the immune system will look like after recovery from COVID-19. Most researchers A few Protection from viruses, they still do not know what that protection looks like. Statistical news Broke some possibilities. (Helen Brandswell/ Statistical news)

development of

FDA approves Abbott’s fast $5 COVID-19 test

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a $5, 15-minute COVID-19 test that functions like a pregnancy test. A nasal swab will be inserted at the bottom of the test card and a colored line will appear if the sample is coronavirus positive. It’s a big step Experts say.. (Nicole Wetman/ brink)

Moderna says the Covid-19 vaccine shows signs of working in the elderly

The drug company conducted a small study testing the COVID-19 vaccine candidate in people over the age of 56 and found that it elicited the same type of immune response that young people did. This does not mean that they are protected from infection by the coronavirus. To prove it, we need data from a larger trial. But that is a promising sign: the immune system of the elderly Weaker In young people, and vaccines may not work well for them. (Peter Loftus/ Wall Street Journal)

What if the first coronavirus vaccine is not the best?

Companies such as Moderna and Pfizer are competing to collect data on COVID-19 vaccine candidates by the end of the year, but many others are moving at a slower pace. They are building vaccines using a different kind of technology than the ones at the forefront of vaccines, and some researchers believe they may have more persistence .. “The first vaccine may not be the most effective,” said Ted Ross, director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia. New York Times.. (Karl Zimmer/ New York Times)

Outlook

What happened in Room 10?

Reporter Katie Engelhart investigated a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, the first virus hotspot in the United States. Obviously something went wrong-but who was responsible?

Later, the story of the emergence of life care will be flattened by the ubiquitous metaphor of the pandemic. People will say that COVID-19 was a hit like a bomb, an earthquake, or a tsunami. They say it spread like a wildfire. But within the facility, it felt like a ghost of the spectrum. A nurse named Chelsey Earnest said that fighting COVID was “chase the devil.”

(Katy Engelheart/ California Sunday)

“We Live the News”: Student Journalists Own College Resume Story

On university campuses nationwide, student journalists are actively documenting resumption plans and the outbreak of COVID-19. Toll charges apply. “We’re scared not only because we’re writing about this news for others to hear, but also when we’re usually talking about ourselves when we’re about it,” Brandon Standley. , Chief Editor UNC Daily tar heel,Said NPR..

(Elissa Nadwarney and Lauren Migaki/ NPR)

Above the number

The path to recovery is on track for more than 24,775,245 people with positive reactions worldwide.

With 837,908 family and friends who have died worldwide (181,779 in the United States), your loved ones will never be forgotten.

Please keep your safety.