In France, the association of hospitals in the Paris region for the first time described a “severe” case of re-infection with the coronavirus, a South African strain.
This is reported by Le Figaro / AFP.
The 58-year-old patient was ill for the first time in September 2020, with a high fever and moderate difficulty breathing. A PCR test confirmed he had a coronavirus. After a few days, the symptoms went away, and his next tests in December were negative.
In January 2021, the man fell ill again, he was hospitalized with a high fever and difficulty breathing. Sequencing of the virus’s genome revealed that it was an African strain. At the same time, tests showed that he still had antibodies in his blood after a previous illness.
After seven days, the patient had to be connected to a ventilator, at the time of publication of the review, he was still in intensive care.
“This case confirms that the South African strain can cause a severe recurrence of the disease after the first time the disease was mild,” the description notes. “As far as we know, this is the first description of a re-infection with a South African strain that resulted in a severe course of the disease months after the first infection with moderate symptoms.”
In the scientific literature, there have already been descriptions of cases of re-infection, including mutated strains — “British”, “South African” and “Brazilian”. Usually, the second time a person gets sick with mild symptoms.
Cases of re-infection with the virus may be more numerous than those recorded and described in scientific journals.
