Brazilian woman first to be reinfected with variant

People protest in honour of the two lakh people killed by COVID-19, while demanding impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro. PIC/AFP

A Brazilian woman has become the first person in the world to be reinfected with a variant of the novel Coronavirus known as E484K, state media reported.

The case, discovered by researchers from the D'Or Institute for Research and Education in Bahia state, was detected in a 45-year-old woman who had tested positive for COVID-19 in May 2020 and was diagnosed again in October with the mutation.

Originally identified in South Africa, the E484K mutation has been previously detected in Brazil, but this is the first case of re-infection with it.

According to researcher, in order to confirm a re-infection, it is necessary to undertake an analysis of the genome of the two viruses and compare the sequence of RNA, the "prime" molecule of DNA, to see if they are in fact two different strains.

Researchers at the D'Or Institute expressed concern over the discovery, since the mutation may entail alterations that can prevent the action of antibodies from treating patients.