Spread covid

The COVID-19 outbreak has infected more than 100,000 people in 119 countries in the world (11/3), of which more than 50 percent have recovered. But can they still pass COVID-19 after recovering to other people? Check out the following explanation.

Can patients catch COVID-19 after they recover?

JAMA Journal published a recent study entitled Positive RT-PCR Test Results in Patients Recovered From COVID-19. The research shows that COVID-19 can persist in the body for at least two weeks after a positive patient has recovered.

This study was conducted by following several COVID-19 positive patients who were hospitalized Zhongnan University in Wuhan from 1 January to 15 February 2020.

The patients were declared recovered after their symptoms recovered and after two tests (carried out in a row) stated negative results for COVID-19.

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After recovering and completing the hospital quarantine period, the patient is asked to undergo an additional quarantine period at home for 5 days. They also continue to carry out tests swab throat for 5 to 13 days in the recovery period. The tests between the 5th and 13th days showed that the results were still positive for COVID-19.

"These findings suggest that at least part of the recovered patients are still carriers of the virus (COVID-19)," the study wrote.

A similar case like this finding was first reported in Japan. The woman in her 40s came back sick and tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time. It is not certain whether this woman has contracted it again or if the patient's body has not completely fought the virus and is causing symptoms to return.

Quoted Japan Times , virologist and epidemiologist Rinku General Medical Center Masaya Yamato said it was too early to draw conclusions about this SARS-CoV-2 infection. He also did not know whether this patient could transmit COVID-19 after recovering.

It's just that, Yamato assumes that the possibility is a virus that hasn't completely disappeared.

"I believe the virus has been reactivated," said Yamato. Such a scenario, said Yamato, is likely to occur in patients who have not produced antibodies that can protect the body against the virus.

In a fully healthy patient antibodies will develop and reactivation is unlikely. According to Yamato, COVID-19 patients need at least 14 days to produce antibodies - or longer for elderly patients.

"Recovery doesn't mean the virus is gone — it's just inactive," he stressed.

Mild level virus

This research is likely to be good news. Reported Live Science Krys Johnson Epidemiologist Temple Public Health University said it is most likely that after the patient recovers there is little potential to transmit COVID-19. Because viruses that are still roaming in the body system tend to be viruses that are the body's immune response.

"If the viruses remain in the human system, they may not be able to be reinfected," said Johnson.

Virologist at Michigan Tech University Ebenezer Tumban said the virus persisting in someone who is positive for exposure is a common case, even after the person is declared cured.

For example, the Zika and Ebola viruses are known to persist for months after patients recover.

"The drugs they use can suppress the number of copies of the virus in the patient's body. At that point, the tests won't be sensitive enough to detect the presence of the virus, ”said Tumban.

Tumban further explained, after the end of antiviral treatment, the virus may have started replicating again at a lower level. There will not be enough virus to cause tissue damage, so the patient will have no symptoms. But the number of viruses is still high enough that laboratory tests can still detect its presence.

At this level, the patient may not have the potential to transmit COVID-19 after recovering. It takes more intimate contact to spread the virus. Even so, this virologist warns to be careful about the possibility of transmission.

"They have to be careful in household arrangements not to share drinks and make sure they wash their hands frequently," he said.

Immune implications

When this study was published, none of the patient's families had tested positive for COVID-19. But the researchers stressed that the patient's family was not infected because all the samples were medical personnel who knew very well how to prevent transmission. So, the potential for transmission is still very possible.

This study shows that long-term monitoring of recovered patients and their contacts is important.

Viruses that survive in the body can get a fairly good immune response, so they can provide protection against the potential to be infected with COVID-19 again.

But that immunity does not last permanently. It is possible for COVID-19 to mutate. Changes to a new version of the virus may not be recognized by the immune system and may allow exposure to occur.

Scientists don't really know COVID-19 but research on the virus is still developing.