Just had a Covid? Beware … you can be re-infected in just 20 DAYS: Spanish healthcare worker fights Delta and Omicron within three weeks of each other, scientists find
- The Spaniards caught the Delta variant in December than the Omicron just weeks later
- Scientists say this is the shortest difference between Covid infections ever recorded
- It is said to indicate a previous infection and vaccination is not a guarantee of immunity
By John Ellie, senior health reporter for Mailonline
Posted: 23:00, 20 April 2022 | Updated: 23:25, 20 April 2022
People can be re-infected with Covid within three weeks, scientists say.
Experts told how a 31-year-old Spanish health worker struggled with Delta and Omicron within a 20-day period.
Researchers believe that the case of an unidentified woman is the shortest gap for re-infection since the beginning of the pandemic.
The woman, whose battle with the virus was shown at a medical conference, had received her booster vaccine against Covid.
The doctors in Catalonia who treated her show that people who are completely hit “cannot accept that they are protected against re-infection” – even if they have fought the virus before.
Dr Gemma Resio of the Institut Catala de la Salut added: “This case highlights Omicron’s potential to avoid previous immunity acquired either by natural infection with other variants or by vaccines.
“In other words, people who have had Covid cannot accept that they are protected against re-infection, even if they have been fully vaccinated.”
Scientists have found a stabbed Spanish health worker who caught two different strains of Covid in just 20 days in a case that they say highlights the point that a previous infection or vaccination does not guarantee immunity against the virus (stock image)
Spain, like many European nations, jumped in the Covid cases in December and January, driven by the new version of Omicron
The chaotic sub-variant of Omicron has already been spotted seven times in the UK … but leading scientists insist the tension is nothing to fear
Seven Britons have already captured what is considered the most contagious version of Omicron to date.
Sub-strain BA.2.12.1 already accounts for one-fifth of cases in the United States, a sign of what may come to the UK.
Little is known about the new version of the virus, although it is believed to have a 27% growth advantage over BA.2, which is behind the latest jump in cases in the UK and is itself a sub-variant of Omicron.
However, leading scientists insist that there is no evidence that BA.2.12.1 is heavier than its lightweight predecessor.
British experts told MailOnline that they were not worried about its appearance due to the high levels of immunity of the United Kingdom after the recent internal jump.
This suggests that the first case was opened in the week of March 21, and the last was in the week of April 4.
But the real number of Britons infected with the subtype is likely to be higher.
The international database suggests that the first case of BA.2.12.1 was discovered in Canada in the week of 17 January.
However, she added that the previous infection and strokes “appear to partially prevent severe illness and hospitalization in those with Omicron”.
The woman received her Covid booster 12 days before giving a positive test for the virus in December 2021 through her routine tampon program.
Later, laboratory tests showed that her first attack of the disease – which did not cause any symptoms – was with the Delta variant.
She is isolated for 10 days before returning to work in January. It is not clear that she had to be negative before starting work again.
However, she soon began to suffer from Covid’s telltale symptoms – cough and fever.
Another test showed that she was positive again, and genetic analysis revealed that she had caught the Omicron strain.
“This case also underscores the need for genomic surveillance of viruses for infections in those who are fully vaccinated and for reinfections,” added Dr. Resio.
“Such monitoring will help identify options with the ability to partially avoid the immune response.”
The case was presented to the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Portugal.
Recurrent infections with Covid are not uncommon – hundreds of thousands of Britons have caught the virus twice since the pandemic began, the data show.
Immunity is never perfect, which means that the virus can still sneak through the defenses of people who have been vaccinated and survived the virus.
Some variants, such as Omicron, carry mutations that allow it to more easily avoid the body’s arsenal to fight viruses.
The UK Health Security Agency estimates that almost 800,000 Britons caught Covid twice during the pandemic.
It is estimated that about 8,700 people have been infected three times, and 74 Britons have tested positive four times since early April 2020.
The UKHSA identified re-infection with Covid as a positive test for Covid within 90 days of the first positive test.
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