How likely is it to get re-infected with COVID-19 following recovery?
Wednesday, December 01, 2021, 11:46 GMT+7
Many people who have recovered from COVID-19 in Vietnam have been wondering whether or not they will be re-infected with the coronavirus, especially after the discovery of the Omicron variant.
Vietnam has confirmed 1,238,082 COVID-19 patients since the pandemic first struck it early last year, of whom 989,348 have recovered from the disease.
Many of these patients were unvaccinated, while others had received either one or two vaccine doses prior to their diagnosis.
Following their recovery, many have been wondering about their chances of catching the virus again.
They have been more concerned over that matter following the discovery of the Omicron variant, known technically as B.1.1.529.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on November 25 said it had recorded this new strain from a number of southern African countries. It has yet to be found in Vietnam so far.
According to Nguyen Trung Cap, deputy director of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, doctors have found that people who had recovered from COVID-19 possess stronger antibodies than those who are fully vaccinated.
In the world as well as in Vietnam, there are cases of COVID-19 re-infection following recovery, but the rate is very low, Cap continued.
Vietnam first recorded a case of COVID-19 re-infection in Hanoi in September.
The patient, a 53-year-old man, first contracted COVID-19 in Russia in late 2020 and was successfully treated.
He received his first vaccine shot in Hanoi on September 3, but tested positive for the novel coronavirus three days later.
The patient had no clinical manifestations.
Some similar cases might have been documented in the country since then, Cap stated, reiterating that the re-infection rate is extremely low.
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