How to treat the secondary infection of Hong Kong-COVID-19 recovered persons?

The second infection of Hong Kong-COVID-19 patients showed that COVID-19 antibody would not exist in human body for a long time. If this phenomenon becomes common, it may affect the direction of vaccine research and development.

In March this year, a 33-year-old man was diagnosed with novel coronavirus. He was hospitalized and discharged in mid-April. In August, the man traveled abroad and was tested after returning to Hong Kong. He was found to be infected with novel coronavirus again. The study found that the patient was not reinfected by the virus, but was indeed reinfected. It can be seen that novel coronavirus's antibody will not exist in a person's body for a long time, or it may be that the original antibody cannot resist the mutated virus.

First, antibodies may not exist in the human body for a long time and may disappear. This man was infected with novel coronavirus before and recovered after treatment, but after recovery, there will be antibodies against coronavirus in her body. There is reinfection now. It may be that this antibody has a certain timeliness and will not exist for a long time. For example, it will disappear after three to five months in the body, and then it will reinfect like ordinary people.

Second, the original COVID-19 antibody may not be effective against the mutant virus. Research by the University of Hong Kong shows that patients are infected with two different viruses. Although they are all from COVID-19, COVID-19 has changed. It is possible that men developed antibodies to the first virus, but due to the different composition and structure of the two viruses, this antibody has no effect on the second virus.

Third, if it will happen again in the future, it is related to the direction of vaccine research and development. If this incident of secondary infection is only a case, then there is no research significance. If this kind of secondary infection will occur one after another in the future, researchers may need to adjust the direction of vaccine research and development, not only considering the timeliness of the vaccine, but also considering whether the vaccine is effective against the mutant virus. At present, the specific scientific research report has not yet come out, and everything has not been finalized. There is no need to panic too much.