Nevadan believed to be first in US reinfected with COVID-19, doctors say in report
The person believed to be the first in U.S. to contract COVID-19 two times is a western Nevada man who suffered more severe symptoms during his second battle with the virus just weeks after the first, according to a newly published study.
He’s young, 25 years old. He had no health issues, before his twin bouts with the virus in April and again in early June, and the Washoe County, Nevada man has since recovered.
But his case scrambles the puzzle of immunity from a rampaging, still-evolving virus and its implications for developing a vaccine.
The study done under an emergency order by Nevada’s chief medical officer and published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet speaks to the depth of the mystery.
Scientists don’t yet know the degree of immunity an infected person achieves once they’ve recovered or for long they will be protected. Because of that, the chances a person may contract the virus again are still unclear, the study’s authors wrote.
“Previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 does not necessarily translate to guaranteed total immunity,” the study read. “From a public health perspective, all individuals - whether previously diagnosed or not - must take identical precautions to prevent infection.”
It’s also unclear how rare reinfection is, doctors told USA Today this week.
At least 22 reinfection cases have been documented worldwide since the global coronavirus contagion began, USA Today reported. But with millions of cases including the nearly 7.8 million cases in the U.S., it’s not known how large a true case count may be because people may not be reporting their symptoms to hospitals or know they are carrying the virus in the first place, Yale University immunologist Akiko Iwasaki told USA Today.
“It could be a one in a million event, we don’t know,” Iwasaki said. “It’s possible that the vast majority of people are completely protected from reinfection, but we’re not measuring them because they’re not coming to the hospital.”
The Washoe County man who was sickened twice is an essential worker whose job site was hit by an outbreak early in the pandemic, Heather Kerwin, a Washoe County Health District senior epidemiologist, and a study co-author, said in the USA Today report.
He had been sick since March 25 with the tell-tale signs of a viral infection: sore throat, cough, headache, nausea and diarrhea. He tested positive at a county-sponsored event April 18, and went into isolation where he recovered and felt well until May 28 when he again fell ill. About the same time, the work place of one of the man’s parents, also an essential worker, was also the site of an outbreak, according to USA Today.
The Washoe County man went to an urgent care center several days later, complaining of fever, dizziness and other symptoms. He was discharged home but by June 5, he was at his doctor’s office, his body starved of oxygen. He again tested positive for COVID-19 and he was hospitalized.
The parent also tested positive and may have reinfected the Washoe County man with a very high dose of the virus or a more virulent type than the first, the study read.
As doctors work to untangle the virus and work toward a vaccine, the study’s authors say people sick or not need to remain vigilant to keep the virus at bay.
“From a public health perspective, all individuals — whether previously diagnosed or not — must take identical precautions to prevent infection,” the study read.
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