A man in the United States has caught Covid twice, with the second infection becoming far more dangerous than the first, doctors report.
The 25-year-old needed hospital treatment after his lungs could not get enough oxygen into his body.
Reinfections remain rare and he has now recovered. However, the study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases raises questions about how much immunity can be built up to the virus.
The man from Nevada had no known health problems or immune defects that would make him particularly vulnerable to Covid.
Scientists say the patient caught coronavirus twice, rather than the original infection becoming dormant and then bouncing back. A comparison of the genetic codes of the virus taken during each bout of symptoms showed they were too distinct to be caused by the same infection.
"Our findings signal that a previous infection may not necessarily protect against future infection," said Dr Mark Pandori, from the University of Nevada.
"The possibility of reinfections could have significant implications for our understanding of COVID-19 immunity."
Source: BBC News, 13 October 2020
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