Recurrent COVID-19 suggesting reinfection among seven health care workers in a teaching hospital in Mumbai

Authors

  • Anuradha K. Shah Department of Community Medicine, Seth GSMC and KEMH, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Mayuri U. Raul Department of Community Medicine, Seth GSMC and KEMH, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Rosna M. Anto Department of Community Medicine, Seth GSMC and KEMH, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Kosturi Dakshit Department of Community Medicine, Seth GSMC and KEMH, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20221800

Keywords:

COVID-19, Reinfection, Pandemic

Abstract

The The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently came up with an epidemiological definition for reinfection- a gap of 102 days between two positive molecular or rapid antigen tests with a negative molecular test in between. As it is not always feasible to do a genomic analysis, this working definition can provide useful insights. Here we describe a case series of seven health care workers (HCWs) who turned positive for the second time after a mean duration of 245.14 days (130-305 days). All of them had a minimum of one reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) negative report in between the two episodes. Mere presence of neutralizing antibodies after natural infection or post-vaccination cannot be considered safe against COVID infection. Therefore, prevention should be always the priority -wearing masks, hand washing/sanitizing and social distancing needs to be continued, till we see an end to this pandemic.

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Published

2022-06-28

How to Cite

Shah, A. K., Raul, M. U., Anto, R. M., & Dakshit, K. (2022). Recurrent COVID-19 suggesting reinfection among seven health care workers in a teaching hospital in Mumbai. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 10(7), 1531–1535. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20221800

Issue

Section

Case Series