Covid stays in body after recovery but remains in non-infectious state

In the last few weeks, as many as five cases have emerged from New Delhi where recovered patients have had a relapse of the COVID-19 infection

New aspects of the Coronavirus infection are coming to the fore as the pandemic continues its vice-like grip. New symptoms are being discovered and so are residual symptoms. Complications and threats involved with catching the infection are also evolving. The latest issue being witnessed and discussed is the COVID-19 re-infection. In the last few weeks, as many as five cases have emerged from Delhi alone. This month, the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital reported two instances of patients with a relapse of COVID-19 after recovering one-and-a-half months ago.

Aakash Healthcare in Dwarka reported a case in July where a cancer patient re-contracted COVID-19 and died weeks after recovery. IANS spoke to some experts to get to the bottom of the matter. Does retesting positive in RT-PCR mean reinfection? As per the experts, the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, lives in the body of the infected person even after the person recovers.

However, the infection reduces to a point where the person becomes non-infectious. Praveen Gupta, director and head of Neurology Department at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, said the virus can be found in the stool of a recovered person for upto 30 days and more than two months in throat swabs from the day the symptoms start showing. Mahesh Langa, an expert in infectious disease at Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune, said that patients who recover can test positive in the RT-PCR test for three months from recovery. It happens because the virus is not entirely eradicated from the body during recovery.

Karnataka to examine prevalence of COVID-19

The Karnataka government will conduct a survey across the state to estimate the prevalence of Coronavirus and the proportion of population which has developed immunity against the virus, an official said on Friday.

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