(Brian Resnick/ Vox) — Researchers in Hong Kong have reported that a 33-year-old man has been reinfected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus the causes the Covid-19 disease. There have been anecdotal reports of reinfections in the US, but this time researchers have clearer evidence: They determined the genetic signature of the second infection did not match that of the first.
There’s still a lot not known about the case. The researchers, who are medical scientists from the University of Hong Kong, announced their finding in a press release. (They say a paper in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases is forthcoming; a few pages of the report are circulating on Twitter.) When the report is finally published, there’s sure to be more scrutiny from the scientific community.
On this topic of reinfection, we can be reassured: The report, if corroborated, is in line with what immunity experts have been telling us is possible with this virus. The most important detail: The man was not symptomatic during his second infection, which shows that his immune system did respond to the virus.
“This is no cause for alarm,” Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki tweeted about the new results from Hong Kong. “This is a textbook example of how immunity should work.” (…)