There has been an increased recurrence rate of Covid-19 after recovery, people are advised not to relax vigilance
Reinfection with the virus that causes Covid-19 means a person was infected, recovered, and then later became infected again.
Having been infected with Covid-19 in the middle of September 2021, 36-year-old Nguyen Van Nam in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 12 took more than two weeks to recover from Covid-19. After recovery, he got the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and practiced rehabilitation.
Surprisingly, after only four months, Nam’s Covid-19 test was positive and it was not clear where the source of the infection came from. He said he thought that if I had had a third dose of Covid-19 vaccine and had already contracted Covid-19 then he would be immune. Luckily, he had mild symptoms this time and he had received short time treatment.
Also getting Covid-19 twice, Ms. Tran Thi Dung in Thu Duc City said that she was first discovered to have Covid-19 right last year when the epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City was the most complicated. She was having mild symptoms of Covid-19 when she was re-infected with the coronavirus.
According to Dr. Nguyen Quoc Binh, former deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Biotechnology Center, people who used to be infected with Covid-19 still had a higher likelihood of reinfection. A person can be re-infected with Covid-19 many times, so people still have to strictly adhere to 5K principles.
Doctor Truong Huu Khanh, a specialist consultant at Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, said that reinfections surge because of Omicron onslaught in the community. After recovering from the disease, the patient's body will produce antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Immunity acquired through the previous infection is less effective against Omicron than against other variants; however, the number of antibodies produced may not be strong enough or do not last long enough, after a period of time will weaken and disappear or the antibodies created when infected with the original variant are not suitable to protect the body against the new variant, so the patient re-infected with Covid-19, said Doctor Truong Huu Khanh.
Faced with the increase in the number of Covid-19 re-infections, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said that medical experts and staff had met to prepare for a quick study to people in the high-risk groups to value their immune response. Based on the valuation, the sector will recommend the fourth dose of vaccine for high-risk people and people with underlying diseases.
Moreover, the recommendation must be based on the scientific basis of the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, WHO is encouraging that Vietnam has a separate study to both suit its own situation and strengthen the world's medical data, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son.
