Nevada Man Becomes First Case of COVID-19 Reinfection in US

By Madelaine D. First Posted: Aug 29, 2020 06:23 AM EDT

A man from Nevada appears to be the first reported case of COVID-19 reinfection in the United States.

The 25-year-old Reno man's genetic tests indicated that he was infected with two different varieties of the coronavirus.

According to CNN, a team at the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine and the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory reported the patient's reinfection.

The man was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in April after he experienced a sore throat, headache, cough, diarrhea, and nausea, as per the researchers who wrote a pre-print study posted on Thursday.

Nevada Man Possible First COVID-19 Reinfection in the US

(Photo : Octavio Jones)
As State Opens After Lockdown, Coronavirus Cases Spike In Florida TAMPA, FL - JUNE 25: Adriana Cardenas, a medical technologist processes test samples for the coronavirus at the AdventHealth Tampa labs on June 25, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Florida is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, as the state reached a new record for single-day infections on Wednesday with 5,511 new cases.

On April 27, the patient felt better and tested negative for the virus twice. For about a month, the patient continued to recover and feel well.

But on May 31, the man sought care for headache, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, cough, and fever, as per MSN. He was hospitalized after five days and was required for oxygen support. Again, the patient tested for COVID-19 and got positive results.

The Nevada researchers examined both genetic materials from coronavirus specimens collected from the man from previous to present diagnosis. Their analysis showed that he had two specific viral infections.

The pre-print study has not yet been peer-reviewed by a journal. However, the researchers noted that the findings showed that humans could catch coronavirus for several times. Besides, the results were not the first documented case worldwide.

"After one recover from COVID-19, we still do not know how much immunity is built up, how long it may last, or how well antibodies play a role in protection against reinfection," the director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, Mark Pandori, said in a news release on Thursday.

Pandori said there might be implications for the vaccines' efficacy developed to fight the COVID-19 if reinfection is possible for a short time.

He added that it is vital to note that this is a singular finding, and it does not give any information to the public regarding the generalizability of the phenomenon.

Early this week, researchers in Hong Kong said they found the first documented COVID-19 reinfection case. A 33-year-old man from Hong Kong tested positive for COVID-9 twice this year, the CNN reported.

On Monday, the pre-print study has been accepted by the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the University of Hong Kong said. The study indicates that the man from Hong Kong was reinfected with two different coronavirus variants 142 days apart.

Researchers said that the patient experienced COVID-19 symptoms during his first time of having the virus, but the patient did not have any obvious signs on his second time.