New data suggest people arent getting reinfected with the coronavirus – Science News

People who test positive again for the coronavirus, despite having already recovered from COVID-19, arent being reinfected, a new study finds.

Reports of patients dischargedfrom hospitals in South Korea testing positive after their apparent recovery hadraised concerns that people could get infected by the virus in the short term morethan once or that the infection could come back. But diagnostic tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 rely on detecting theviruss genetic material (SN: 4/17/20).A positive result does not indicate whether a person is shedding virusescapable of infecting cells which would signal an active infection.

Now, a May 19 report from theKorean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that samples fromreinfected patients dont have infectious viruses. The finding hints that the diagnostic tests are picking upon the genetic material from noninfectious or dead viruses. That lack of infectious virus particles meansthese people arent currently infected and cant transmit the coronavirus toothers, the researchers say.

Its good news, says AngelaRasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University. It appears people are notbeing reinfected, and this virus is not reactivating.

In thestudy, researchers tried to isolate infectious coronaviruses from samples takenfrom 108 people who retested positive. All of those samples tested negative. When the scientists examined 23 of those patients for antibodiesagainst the coronavirus, almost all had neutralizing antibodies that can stop the virus from getting intocells (SN: 4/28/20). That immuneresponse may protect a person from getting reinfected, at least in the short term.

The team also tracked down790 contacts of 285 people who retested positive. Of those contacts, 27 testedpositive for the coronavirus. Twenty-four of those were cases that officialshad previously confirmed. Officials also identified three new cases, all ofwhom either had contact with the Shincheonji religious group which was hit particularly hard inthe early days of the pandemic or aconfirmed case in their family. No new cases appeared to stem from repeatpositive patients, a sign those patients arent contagious.

Now, we can largely stopworrying about reinfection and address the next big questions, Rasmussen says.How protective are immune responses in recovered patients, and how long doesimmunity last?

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New data suggest people arent getting reinfected with the coronavirus - Science News