Covid can strike again in 3 months after recovery, warns top virologist
An expert virologist has warned people that getting a Covid-19 infection does not mean they will not get infected again.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Dr Yong Poovorawan said most people are at risk of getting reinfected within three months after recovering, though some former patients were reinfected after just two months.
He was citing the Chulalongkorn University’s Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology study on 40 people who were infected for a second time.
The study covered reinfected patients with mild symptoms as well as those with severe symptoms, though most had mild symptoms. Patients who had been prescribed the antiviral Favipiravir during their first infection received symptomatic treatment in the second round.
He added that no patients developed severe symptoms or pneumonia or a lower than normal oxygen level.
Dr Yong said he believes that immunity derived from vaccines and previous infections kept the symptoms mild. Also, he said, many people got vaccinated after their first infection, and this also reduced the severity of the second infection.
Covid-19 is like other respiratory diseases, which means recovered patients can get infected again after three months so they should receive a booster dose when appropriate, he said.
He also advised unvaccinated people to get a jab within three months of being infected, and those who have received two jabs or more should get a booster shot six months after being infected.
