South Korea received just praise for its Covid-19 testing strategy that swiftly halted the virus spread. Subsequent events make it important to understand why some patients subsequently tested positive twice for the Covid Virus. This is not an entirely isolated situation. That’s because China also reported apparent reinfections in Wuhan. There was also one incident in Osaka, Japan.
Possible Explanations Why Some Patients Tested Positive Twice
Yahoo Finance reported the possibility that patients could re-infect on April 15, 2020. This is a possibility we don’t like but we must investigate it. We would be much happier if Yahoo Finance’s second suggestion proves correct. This holds lightweight testing is behind why some patients tested positive twice.
There may be some logic in this because there are two levels of tests. The lower-level ones only look for the virus’ genetic material, and are therefore not an effective filter for an active virus. This is according to Richard Condit, a molecular biologist and professor emeritus at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
As the Body Recovers From an Infection it Clears ‘Virus Litter’
The body tidies up by clearing virus litter from the lungs, Richard Condit explains. This can cough up into a throat where a sensitive diagnostic test might mistake it for an active infection. Moreover, false negative results are also possible when healthcare workers short-change swabs.
Further possibilities include the virus becoming latent and then re-surging again. There are also three strains of SARS-CoV-2 causing Covid-19. We agree with Yahoo Finance’s assessment there are too many uncertainties to be confident one way or the other. Perhaps we should take comfort from the apparently low rate of re-infections reported thus far.
We could build an argument this suggests human frailty but we won’t. Therefore we’ll stay with Purvi Parikh’s assessment for now. The immunologist at New York University’s Langone Health believes the situation is too fluid. We should not lift mitigation efforts until we know why some patients tested positive twice.
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Preview Image: 2019-nCoV Laboratory Test Kit
