100 in South Korea again test positive for COVID-19 after recovering? or virus reactivated? WHO investigating

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/wor...g-2126487.html

51 in South Korea again test positive for COVID-19 after recovering
The health authorities said a team of investigators has been sent to Daegu to conduct an epidemiological investigation into the cases.

Published: 06th April 2020 03:51 PM | Last Updated: 06th April 2020 03:51 PM | A+A A-
By IANS

SEOUL: Fifty-one people in South Korea, who recovered after contracting COVID-19, have tested positive again, but the results might have been due to the reactivation of the novel coronavirus, health authorities here said on Monday.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the people from Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang province, the epicentres of the pandemic in South Korea, tested positive for the virus after they were released from quarantine, rports Yonhap News Agency.

KCDC Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong said the virus was highly likely to have been reactivated, instead of the people being reinfected, as they tested positive again in a relatively short time after being released from quarantine...

 

[Treyfish]

...KCDC Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong said the virus was highly likely to have been reactivated, instead of the people being reinfected, as they tested positive again in a relatively short time after being released from quarantine.

The health authorities said a team of investigators has been sent to Daegu to conduct an epidemiological investigation into the cases.

Other virologists and epidemiologists said the positive results from the retesting may have come from the virus reactivating and not from wrong diagnoses.

"There is a pattern of the viral level decreasing and increasing again. An investigation should be thoroughly conducted into whether the level was low enough to show as negative," said Jegal Dong-wook, an infectious disease expert at the Catholic University of Korea.


They also said the COVID-19 virus may remain latent in certain cells in the body and attack the respiratory organs again once reactivated.

"Patients who retested positive are people in which the virus was reactivated or who relapsed," said Kim Tae-kyung, an infectious disease expert at Soonchunhyang University Hospital....https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200406006751320

 

[Treyfish]

Covid 19 coronavirus: 100 people in South Korea test positive for coronavirus after earlier being cleared

11 Apr, 2020 2:39pm

On April 6, South Korea reported fewer than 50 new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since infections peaked in late February. However, the fall in new cases comes amid fresh concerns of virus reactivation.
By: Lexie Cartwright

Nearly 100 people in South Korea have tested positive for the coronavirus after initially being cleared, sparking concerns for the growing possibility of double cases.

The number of relapsed cases grew from 51 on Monday and officials are unsure what has sparked the trend. Epidemiological investigations are under way.

The potential for individuals to be reinfected with Covid-19 is of grave concern for health officials, who anticipated infected populations would develop sufficient immunity to protect against a further spread of the pandemic... https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/new...ectid=12324210


:tiphat:

 

[Treyfish]

WHO looking into reports of coronavirus patients who tested positive after recovery

BY STEPHANIE NEBEHAY
REUTERS
Posted April 12, 2020 2:02 pm

GENEVA —The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was looking into reports of some COVID-19 patients testing positive again after initially testing negative for the disease while being considered for discharge.

South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again....
The Geneva-based WHO, asked about the report from Seoul, told Reuters in a brief statement: “We are aware of these reports of individuals who have tested negative for COVID-19 using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing and then after some days testing positive again.

“We are closely liaising with our clinical experts and working hard to get more information on those individual cases. It is important to make sure that when samples are collected for testing on suspected patients, procedures are followed properly,” it said...

South Korean health officials said on Friday that it remains unclear what is behind the trend...,
“As COVID-19 is a new disease, we need more epidemiological data to draw any conclusions of virus shedding profile,” the WHO said.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6809875/w...test-recovery/

 

[Treyfish]

at least 4 different reasons


..."The number will only increase, 91 is just the beginning now," said Kim Woo-joo, professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital.

The KCDC's Jeong raised the possibility that rather than patients being re-infected, the virus may have been "reactivated".

Kim also said patients had likely "relapsed" rather than been re-infected.

False test results could also be at fault, other experts said, or remnants of the virus could still be in patients' systems but not be infectious or of danger to the host or others.

"There are different interpretations and many variables," said Jung Ki-suck, professor of pulmonary medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital.

"The government needs to come up with responses for each of these variables"....https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-...gain-1.8756671