India reports first scientifically documented Covid-19 reinfection cases

CSIR biologists reported first documented case of coronavirus reinfection

In what may be India's first scientifically documented cases of Covid-19 reinfection, CSIR biologists have reported two such instances in two healthcare workers at a Noida hospital.

A 25-year-old male and a 28-year-old female were detected coronavirus positive on May 5 and May 17 respectively. Though both were asymptomatic, they were hospitalised as per the policy of the Noida hospital where they were working.

During the regular subsequent surveillance, the two were again found coronavirus positive on August 25 and September 5 respectively. This time the viral load was higher.

Eventually after the 14th day, the male, and after 6th day, the female tested negative.

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“This is possibly one of the first scientifically documented cases of reinfection in India. The reinfection was proven with a genetic test since only a genetic sequencing can tell us whether it is a case of coronavirus shedding from the old episode or a genuine case of re-infection,” Sridhar Sivasubbu, a scientist at Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi and a member of the team that detected the reinfection told DH.

Genetic tests are needed to determine if two episodes (of infections) are caused by virus strains with clearly different genome sequences. The screening at the Noida hospital was carried out as a part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's pan-India Covid-19 surveillance project in which hospitals, industrial corridors and commercial hubs will be regularly checked for any sign of the virus.

“Our analysis suggests that asymptomatic reinfection may be a potentially under-reported entity. Both individuals had a higher viral load during reinfection highlighting the need for continuous surveillance,” the scientists said in a paper that has been released in the public domain without a peer review.

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The reports of reinfection from India so far are anecdotal – be it a lone case at the Fortis hospital in Bengaluru or the cases of two cancer-affected children at Medanta Medicity in Gurugram or the suspected cases among doctors in two hospitals in Mumbai. The two kids at Medanta had the first and second Covid-19 reinfection at a gap of 71 and 42 days respectively. In both cases, their cancer treatment had to be stopped and the kids had to stay isolated till the respiratory infection goes away.

But since genetic sequencing was not done, these two cases can't be definitively described as reinfection. The hospital has now reached out to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for genome sequencing.

“Reinfection in Covid-19 is very very rare. It is not a matter of serious concern,” Balram Bhargava, Director-General of Indian Council of Medical Research stated at a press conference here on Tuesday.

The world's first documented case of Covid-19 reinfection was reported about three weeks ago in Hong Kong where an individual was re-infected after a gap of 142 days.