University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Jan;21(1):e52-e53. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0912. Epub 2020 Dec 10.
Protective immunity following COVID-19 infection is not yet fully understood. An understanding of COVID-19 reinfection will be key in guiding government and public health policy decisions in the coming months. This report describes two distinct infective episodes of COVID-19 occurring in the same individual, at the time of writing the first published case in the UK. In April 2020 a 25-year-old UK doctor exhibited classical COVID-19 symptoms, including fevers, headaches, and fatigue. A COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) at the time returned negative. However, a follow-up antibody test in May 2020 returned positive. In October 2020 the same individual exhibited coryzal symptoms and headaches. He was COVID-19 NAAT tested and found to be positive. There was exposure to high viral load prior to reinfection. Overall the second infection was symptomatically milder, with a faster recovery. This evidence for reinfection poses challenges for public health and vaccination efforts to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic.
人们对感染新冠病毒后的保护免疫仍不完全了解。了解新冠病毒再感染对于指导未来数月的政府和公共卫生政策决策至关重要。本报告描述了同一人在英国首例病例发表时发生的两次不同的新冠病毒感染事件。2020 年 4 月，一名 25 岁的英国医生出现了典型的新冠病毒症状，包括发热、头痛和疲劳。当时的新冠病毒核酸扩增检测（NAAT）结果为阴性。然而，2020 年 5 月的后续抗体检测结果为阳性。2020 年 10 月，同一人出现了鼻塞和头痛症状。他接受了新冠病毒 NAAT 检测，结果呈阳性。在再次感染之前，他接触了高病毒载量。总的来说，第二次感染症状较轻，恢复较快。这种再感染的证据给公共卫生和疫苗接种工作带来了挑战，这些工作旨在预防新冠疫情。
