According to a number of British media local time reported on April 21, a study showed that a 31-year-old Spanish female medical worker was infected with the "Delta" and "Omikejong" new crown strains in 20 days, and the interval between repeated infections of the new crown virus set a record for the shortest known.
Screenshot from the BBC website
The authors of the study were Gemma Recio and others from the Institut Catala de la Salut in Spain. The study was published this year at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID2022).
Studies show that the anonymous Spanish woman received a COVID-19 vaccine booster injection at the end of 2021, but still contracted the "Delta" strain in December 2021, becoming an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. Less than three weeks later, the woman was tested again for nucleic acid due to fever and cough, which revealed she was infected with the "Omilon" strain of COVID-19.
The 20-day interval also set a record for the shortest known repeat infection of the new crown virus.
Researchers involved in the study said that this (repeated infections in Spanish women) shows that even if there is a history of new crown infection, even if the whole process of new crown vaccination, people still can not avoid infection with new crown.
"Omi kerong" has become the world's most important new crown strain (Source: Sky News)
Recio, one of the study's authors, said the Spanish woman's case highlighted the fact that the "Aumecreon" strain was able to "escape" resistance gained from natural infections or vaccinations.
However, Recio also said that although previous covid-19 infections and vaccinations do not ensure that people will not be infected with covid-19 again, both of these pathways have played a protective role in reducing the severe illness and hospitalization rates of "Omi Kerong" patients.
Recio believes that monitoring the recurrence of infections in people who have been vaccinated throughout the COVID-19 vaccine is very important, because it can help to study how the new crown variant "escapes" the protective effect of the vaccine. Recio stressed the need for genomic sequence analysis that can detect the type of coronavirus strain.
Currently, the UK defines "re-infection" as re-testing positive for COVID-19 at intervals of more than 90 days. Based on this definition, the UK health department estimates that as of early April, nearly 900,000 people in the UK had been infected with COVID-19 twice.
However, because in the UK, only a very small number of positive confirmed patients will be tested for viral genome sequences, and the specific number of "secondary infections" is difficult to determine.
According to the BBC, the "secondary infection rate" in the UK has risen from 1% to 11% since the more contagious "Omilon" strain (especially BA.2) ravaged the UK in December 2021.
The BBC also cited scientists' predictions in the report that eventually, everyone will be infected with COVID-19 twice, and possibly more throughout their lives.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.