Doctor is Mumbai’s first recorded case of Covid reinfection – Times of India

MUMBAI: Ten days after doctors in Hong Kong conclusively proved people can be reinfected with the novel coronavirus, a doctor working in Mumbai’s Sion Hospital tested positive for the virus a second time after a gap of two months. This is the first recorded cases of reinfection in the city, though the affected doctor has now recovered from the second bout of infection.

The civic-run Sion Hospital’s dean Dr Mohan Joshi confirmed the case, but said it was not alarming.
A Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) representative said a female doctor from Sion Hospital’s anesthesia department had got reinfection. “The reinfection came to light about two weeks ago. She tested positive once again and was admitted to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri,” the MARD member said.
The reinfected doctor had suffered and recovered from Covid-19 two months ago. “She had undergone full treatment even then,” said the MARD representative, adding that she tested negative a few days ago after her second bout of infection. “She didn’t have a severe disease both times. She has tested negative now and will be under quarantine for some days,” the doctor said.
Covid reinfections and immunity have been a much-discussed topic; the novel coronavirus has proven to be quite unlike other coronaviruses, which mainly cause cold and cough, and don’t reinfect as people develop immunity for a period of 1 to 3 years. At present, many scientists believe affected people could develop immunity for just a few months.
In a webinar organized by Tata Institute of Genetics and Society on August 31, Dr Gagandeep Kang from CMC Vellore who was associated with the Covid vaccine initiative said cases of reinfection in Mumbai were being discussed in medical circles, but there have been no academic publication so far. A month ago, a patient from a state-run hospital in Mumbai was also considered a reinfection case. “The patient claimed he tested positive and had a report, but we couldn’t get his first sample to study it,” said a state official. The BMC has so far denied any reinfections.