World’s first COVID19 reinfected patient | Hacker News Reader

World’s first COVID19 reinfected patient

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17 pointsdsr1217 comments

From other news coverage: This is the first confirmed reinfection and it was confirmed as a distinct second infection using genetic sequencing; specifically this patient's second infection is a strain that was circulating in Europe this summer (where the patient caught it), and provably different from the patient's first infection, caught in Hong Kong months ago.

This level of proof suggests that there have likely been other reinfections - reinfections of the same strain would be difficult to differentiate from shedding of dead virus, for example.

However, I think there's no understanding yet of how likely reinfection really is; I believe it seems rare so far, but I don't know if there's really enough spread of the disease yet to tell.

Also interesting: both of this patient's infections were mild, with the second time being completely asymptomatic.

Another good source with a few more details: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/world/covid-19-coronaviru...

This news could have some concerning implications, but there are also still some plausible, less gloomy scenarios. Some of the details from the Times article worth noting: the man's symptoms during the initial infection were mild, and in the most recent case, he has had no symptoms. This is notable because there have been several conflicting studies measuring the potential immune response of low severity Covid19 infections, with some showing that antibody and T-cell responses are strong, and others showing that they are weak. This means that potentially, mild cases of Covid will not produce long-lasting protective immunity for some.

Additionally, the fact that he fails to show symptoms currently could be an indication that while immunity may not completely prevent reinfection, it may reduce severity. It's been hypothesized that many diseases, including the flu and the common cold, were more deadly upon their initial introduction to the population and, over time, as people gained stronger immune responses from exposure, became less lethal. Additionally, flu vaccines, even if they don't prevent the flu completely, can reduce the severity of the illness. Its possible that this is evidence that, even if it is not possible to completely immunize the population against Covid19, widespread vaccination and infection will lead to it may simply become another endemic, relatively low-severity disease along with the common cold/flu/etc.

Of course, this is all based on literally a single patient, so at this point anything is still possible.

1 known case from ~25m to me seems like reinfection is incredibly rare and not really something to worry about?

Or am I way off the mark here?

Nah - people are going to run with this cause they're assuming the least generous and most panic-inducing interpretation of any development.

Yeah, to me this sounds like positive news -> it at least implies that the risk of reinfection is very low.

How do we know this is the first reinfected? There’s been many reports of people testing negative several times after first getting it, then getting the virus again later

Was about to say the same. Friend of mine got tested positive twice, once in march, once in june, with symptoms each time. I highly doubt OP is truely a « world’s first ».

this is the first proven reinfection with genetic sequencing of different strains of the virus in the same individual.

Is there any word on whether this patient is actually symptomatic? How does their re-infection compare to the first?

According to the NY Times[0], the patient was mildly symptomatic during their first infection, and asymptomatic currently during their second infection.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/world/covid-19-coronaviru...

There are reports that vaccines may only be somewhat effective and even when effective confer immunity for mere months. Now we are hearing that this virus can reinfect people like the coming cold.

What if we can never rid the world of covid? At what point do we just return to our lives the way it was before all this and accept this super dangerous version of the flu as part of our new world?

We...don't ? The world never "returned" from AIDS for example, but we found ways to mitigate its propagation while a cure is searched. Masks may very well be the new condom I suppose ?

1. If the reinfection is totally asymptomatic, including not having quiet heart damage or walking pnumonia, then everything is fine. 2. I'll have an appointment every few months to get a booster.

We need to continue building a pattern of research findings, but existing preliminary research shows that overwhelming numbers of recovered patients develop dangerous complications, such as pericarditis.

I'm baffled how "just return to our lives" shows up as a foregone conclusion in the way many people think about this disease.

The most realistic path to managing COVID is herd immunity. -> Just return to our lives.

We may never achieve COVID herd immunity. We'll just keep getting it over and over. -> Just return to our lives.

Sure, let's imagine a world where we accept widespread and repeated COVID infection as a presence in the average person's life. That means we should immediately, in every organized society, start planning for:

- Significant growth in the numbers of the long-term disabled: Planning living environments for a population with chronic and lifelong respiratory damage. Many of us will be unable to run, distances we are expected to be able to reasonably cross on foot will shrink, and a lot fewer of us will be able to do manual labor such as construction or do jobs that require prolonged standing.

- Planning for a vastly reduced employment, either because entire segments of the economy are no longer in demand, or because a lot fewer of us can take on certain jobs because of disability.

- Significantly reduced average lifespans: changes to policies around retirement age, senior housing, life and health insurance policies, etc.

I think saying "just return to our lives" obligates someone to describe what we should start doing to be able to live the kind of lives we will return to!

I think it's interesting how freaked out people get when they realize how powerless we can be as a species even with all our technology.

I'm baffled that "flatten the curve" is now "lock down until further notice".

If you want to understanf how "flatten the curve" turns into "lock down until further notice" you first need to take into consideration the fact that a) this phenomenon only happens in free democratic countries where the people have a say in picking their government, b) covid19 infection rates and deaths is used extensively by populist opposition parties to stir discontent torwards incumbent parties in particular but democratic regimes in general.

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