Virology professor: Possibility of covid19 re-infection still unconfirmed

CHRISTINE Carrington, UWI professor of molecular genetics and virology, says reports of covid19 re-infection should be looked at "very carefully" as this possibility remains uncertain and unconfirmed.

At the Health Ministry's virtual press briefing on Thursday, Dr Carrington noted international reports of people who recovered from the virus but later tested positive. She said people have been using this as evidence of the possibility of re-infection, but cautioned that scientists are uncertain of this.

"It is possible that some of the genetic material from the virus remains in their body after they have been declared free of the virus itself. And that sort of 'genetic junk' that's left over can be detected by the test."

She said she recently read a study where samples were taken from supposedly re-infected patients to see if the virus detected was infectious, but it was not.

"It does not appear to be a true re-infection, it seems when people are infected they mount an immune response that protects them from further infection.

"What we don't know is how s that immune response is and how long it lasts."