A Japanese Woman in Her 40s Confirmed Reinfected After Recovering from COVID-19

Medical Community Raises Possibility That COVID-19 May Have Dormantly Persisted While Deceiving as Fully Recovered

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] A Japanese woman who had been declared recovered from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was diagnosed positive again after several weeks.

On the 27th (local time), foreign media reported that Osaka City, Japan, announced that a Japanese woman in her 40s, who was confirmed infected during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, has been infected again.

According to Osaka City, the woman, who worked as a bus tour guide, was confirmed infected at the end of January and received treatment before being discharged on the 1st of this month. However, she recently complained of pain in her neck and chest, and upon testing, was diagnosed positive again.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also officially confirmed this fact. It was reported that this is the first case in Japan of a person who was declared recovered becoming infected again.

Similar cases had already occurred in Hubei Province, China, where COVID-19 first emerged.

Philip Tierno, a professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University, analyzed, "After COVID-19 enters the body, it may show minimal symptoms and remain inactive, but if it finds a way to attack the lungs, the symptoms may worsen again."

Professor Tierno added, "There is still much we do not know about COVID-19. It is not yet clear whether the virus can appear to have recovered before relapsing."

The Japanese medical community also suggested the possibility that the virus, which had been dormant in the body, became active again.

Kazunori Tomono, a professor in the Infection Control Department at Osaka University Medical School Hospital, said, "Although the detailed situation is not yet known, when infected with a virus, antibodies are produced in the body, so it is generally difficult to be infected again with the same virus. However, if sufficient antibodies are not produced, reinfection or proliferation of the dormant virus in the body may occur."