First reported case of Covid reinfection in Bangaluru
BANGALURU : In what can be seen as the first possible case of coronavirus relapse in Bengaluru, a 27-year-old woman who recovered from the infection has contracted the virus again, in a span of one month.
The case has been confirmed at Fortis Hospital situated at Bannerghatta Road in the city. Doctors at the hospital confirm the patient to be the “first case of Covid-19 reinfection” in the Karnataka capital.
According to the team of experts in the Department of Infectious Diseases in the hospital, the woman who had no history of commodities had tested positive for the first time in July, after she developed mild symptoms of fever and cough. The patient had, however, “recovered well” and was “discharged successfully” after being tested negative for the viral infection, the team clarified.
“This is possibly the first reported case of Covid reinfection in Bangalore,” Dr Pratik Patil, an Infectious Diseases Consultant at Fortis Hospital’s Bannerghatta Road facility said, explaining how the woman developed the disease a second time within a month’s time.
“Normally, in case of infection, the Covid Immunoglobulin G antibody test comes positive after 2-3 weeks of infection (showing that the patient has developed Covid-fighting cells). However, in this patient, the antibody test has come out negative, which means she did not develop immunity after first infection.
The other possibility is that the antibodies disappeared within a month, leaving her susceptible for reinfection,” Dr Patil said, adding that her symptoms after reinfection are mild.
“Reinfection cases mean that the antibodies may not be produced by every individual, or, if they do develop, they may not last long enough, therefore allowing the virus to enter the body and cause the disease again,” he said.
The finding raises worrying questions about controlling and ending the COVID-19 pandemic as cases continue to rise in India – Asia’s worst-hit country – which recorded almost 90,000 daily cases taking its tally past the 41-lakh mark today.(With Agency Inputs ).
