There appear to be two strains of Covid-19, and patients can get sick again.
A reinfection case was first reported in Hong Kong, followed by two cases in Europe. Now there’s one here, too.
The patient, after being sick for several days in April, became ill again, more severely the second time, in late May and ended up in a hospital on oxygen. This patient is a 25-year-old Nevada man.
Researchers have determined the existence of two Covid-19 strains by analyzing genetic material. They said their findings “suggest humans can catch Covid-19 multiple times.” That could complicate developing a vaccine, and diminish the effects of herd immunity, which is when enough people have immunity to stop the spread (generally ~70% of the population).
Read story here.
America is the worst-hit country by Covid-19, in part because many Americans didn’t take it seriously, believed misinformation, and/or flouted even simple prevention rules like mask wearing and social distancing. With millions of cases and over 180,000 dead from the virus in this county, Covid-19 is no “hoax.” It’s real and deadly.
A couple months ago, Barrons magazine quoted a medical expert as saying “this is the big one” that epidemiologists have long feared. Covid-19 has variously been described as a “100-year event” and the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu. I try to get our readers to take it seriously. It’s foolish to treat this as political or blow off medical expertise and science.
The three basics — handwashing, masks, and social distancing — remain our best defense and best means of containing it.