South Korea reports recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again

[KY_EnviroGuy]

South Korea reports recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again
Josh Smith, Sangmi Cha
Reuters World News
April 10, 2020 / 7:25 AM / Updated 10 hours ago

Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-reports-recovered-coronavirus-patients-testing-positive-again-idUSKCN21S15X

Excerpts:

South Korean officials on Friday reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), told a briefing that the virus may have been “reactivated” rather than the patients being re-infected.

South Korean health officials said it remains unclear what is behind the trend, with epidemiological investigations still under way. The prospect of people being re-infected with the virus is of international concern, as many countries are hoping that infected populations will develop sufficient immunity to prevent a resurgence of the pandemic.

The KCDC’s Jeong raised the possibility that rather than patients being re-infected, the virus may have been “reactivated”. Kim also said patients had likely “relapsed” rather than been re-infected. False test results could also be at fault, other experts said, or remnants of the virus could still be in patients’ systems but not be infectious or of danger to the host or others.

“There are different interpretations and many variables,” said Jung Ki-suck, professor of pulmonary medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital.

This is why it's called a "novel" virus. We have a long way to go in achieving a thorough understanding of the nature of this tiny beast.

KY................

[Doreen]

1. I keep saying that I see a second wave coming.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

7. It's a shame our data collection system is so dysfunctional....

so that I doubt if we in the USA will even know about national reinfection rates.

Thanks again to the intentional incompetence of tRump's administration......

This may be the ultimate "let them eat cake" moment in our history.

[cos dem]

2. I don't know if there's a heaven, but there's very definitely a hell.

This virus is obviously from the latter.

[OhioChick]

9. As is trump n/t

[SheltieLover]

3. YIKES!

[Demovictory9]

4. too bad

[sheshe2]

5. Well that just shot a hole in Dons slurred comments today.

[nmgaucho]

6. OMG

[link:|

[Totally Tunsie]

8. THIS is very concerning.

Good Lord, we're going to be locked in our homes for a very long time. The second wave looks to me to be more extensive if it attacks both new cases that previously escaped the virus as well as re-infecting countless others.

[BGBD]

10. Unlikely to be reinfections

More likely to be false positives or just the viral shedding taking place long after recovery.

[progree]

13. Or false negatives - the false negative rate may be about 1/3

Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests Sow Worry, Wall Street Journal via MSN, 4/2/12

Health experts say they now believe nearly one in three patients who are infected are nevertheless getting a negative test result. They caution that only limited data is available, and their estimates are based on their own experience in the absence of hard science.

That picture is troubling, many doctors say, as it casts doubt on the reliability of a wave of new tests developed by manufacturers, lab companies and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of these are operating with minimal regulatory oversight and little time to do robust studies amid a desperate call for wider testing.

More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/questions-about-accuracy-of-coronavirus-tests-sow-worry/ar-BB124KXh?ocid=spartandhp

China found similar results: 60% tested positive but 90% had tell-tale signs of the virus in CT chest scans.

False positives occur at a much lower rate

So anyway, keep this in mind if you or someone close to you tests negative... there's about a 1/3 chance that test result is wrong, so act accordingly.

The article is free in full at the above msn.com link

[lostnfound]

14. Not false positives - some have fever and respiratory problems.nt

[HarlanPepper]

17. Yes, I believe that's stated in the article for those who bothered to read it

Rather than throwing up scared emojis and crapping their pants. I detest panicked reactions to things that don’t warrant it.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Oh god, no. There just seems to be no end to this nightmare.

[Aussie105]

12. Is there a standoff?

Virus still present and replicating, but kept at low numbers by the immune system so that the 'recovered' person is back at full health?

Some viruses are like that, once you have them, they stay with you forever, and symptoms can flare up at a future date.

Question is - are these recovered virus carriers capable of infecting others?

FROM: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1zi9fw/do_viruses_stay_in_the_body_forever/

"On the other hand, you have viruses (like HIV) that actually insert themselves into the cell's genome. Once inserted, the virus is so called a "provirus". Viruses in this form can stay dormant for an extended period of time and can be hard to kill.

Now the interesting thing is that over time, the provirus can become mutated and defunctional. In this case, the "virus" is no longer infectious and simply becomes a part of our DNA. In fact, as many as 8% of our DNA may be accounted for by former viruses in the form of transposons and retrotransposons."

[Baclava]

15. What we want to know is are they still infectious? Can they spread the virus?

[tanyev]

16. This. This is the number one piece of information that needs to be figured out.

[crickets]

18. +1