Another COVID-19 reinfection: This time second infection was more severe

Enlarge / A nurse practitioner administers COVID-19 tests in the parking lot at Brockton High School in Brockton, MA under a tent during the coronavirus pandemic on Aug. 13, 2020. (credit: Getty | Boston Globe)

A 25-year-old resident of Reno, Nevada was infected with the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, two times, about 48-days apart, with the second infection causing a more severe case of COVID-19 than the first and requiring hospitalization and oxygen support.

That's according to a draft study, led by researchers at the University of Nevada and posted online. The study has not been published by a scientific journal and has not been peer-reviewed. Still, it drew quick attention from researchers, who have been examining data from the first confirmed case of a SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, reported earlier this week.

Reinfections with SARS-CoV-2 are not surprising-or even necessarily concerning. From person to person, immune responses to an infection develop along a spectrum, with some people mounting robust, protective responses and others being left with weaker responses. Amid the more than 24.5 million cases worldwide, it is completely expected to find some recovered patients who are not completely protected by their immune responses and are thus vulnerable to reinfection.

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