Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Also reinfections in the Netherlands and Belgium
A re-infection with the corona virus has also been confirmed in the Netherlands. According to virologist Marion Koopmans in a response to news about this from Hong Kong yesterday. There, a man appears to have been infected twice with the corona virus, which is officially called SARS-CoV-2.
In the Netherlands, this concerns an elderly patient with a deteriorated immune system, reports Koopmans, one of the most important advisers to the World Health Organization and the cabinet.
"SARS-CoV-2 infections all have a different fingerprint, a genetic code," says Koopmans. "People can carry something with them for a long time after an infection and occasionally secrete a little RNA." That is the genetic material of these types of viruses.
For an official recontamination, she says, researchers must be able to demonstrate that the codes of that RNA differ. This appears to be the case with patients in Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
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Clear immune response
She says she does see that people have a clear immune response after an infection. "We expect that this will provide protection against a subsequent infection. So the only question is how long that protection will last."
"I don't get nervous that someone shoots in between with a reinfection," says Koopmans. Certainly not if, as in the Dutch case, it concerns someone with a reduced resistance.
A re-infection with the corona virus has also been confirmed in the Netherlands. According to virologist Marion Koopmans in a response to news about this from Hong Kong yesterday. There, a man appears to have been infected twice with the corona virus, which is officially called SARS-CoV-2.
In the Netherlands, this concerns an elderly patient with a deteriorated immune system, reports Koopmans, one of the most important advisers to the World Health Organization and the cabinet.
"SARS-CoV-2 infections all have a different fingerprint, a genetic code," says Koopmans. "People can carry something with them for a long time after an infection and occasionally secrete a little RNA." That is the genetic material of these types of viruses.
For an official recontamination, she says, researchers must be able to demonstrate that the codes of that RNA differ. This appears to be the case with patients in Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
...................................
Clear immune response
She says she does see that people have a clear immune response after an infection. "We expect that this will provide protection against a subsequent infection. So the only question is how long that protection will last."
"I don't get nervous that someone shoots in between with a reinfection," says Koopmans. Certainly not if, as in the Dutch case, it concerns someone with a reduced resistance.