Publication:

Recurrent COVID-19 suggesting reinfection among seven health care workers in a teaching hospital in Mumbai

The The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently came up with an epidemiological definition for reinfection- a gap of 102 days between two positive molecular or rapid antigen tests with a negative molecular test in between. As it is not always feasible to do a genomic analysis, this working definition can provide useful insights. Here we describe a case series of seven health care workers (HCWs) who turned positive for the second time after a mean duration of 245.14 days (130-305 days). All of them had a minimum of one reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) negative report in between the two episodes. Mere presence of neutralizing antibodies after natural infection or post-vaccination cannot be considered safe against COVID infection. Therefore, prevention should be always the priority -wearing masks, hand washing/sanitizing and social distancing needs to be continued, till we see an end to this pandemic.