The study also found differences in antibody levels based on the severity of the disease. Those with a mild case of the virus tend to experience faster declines in antibodies.
5 EYEWITNESS News contacted the Minnesota Department of Health to obtain statistics on rates of reinfection in Minnesota.
Dr. Nick Lehnertz, an MDH specialist, said: “The CDC’s ‘gold standard’ for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is to obtain complete genome sequencing (WGS) in the sample from the initial positive test and compare it with the subsequent positive test sequence. This is the only way to definitively determine that the second positive test result is reinfection. To date, the MDH has investigated more than 130 cases of individuals with repeated positive tests from 91 to 180 days after the initial positive test, and so far have not been able to confirm reinfection.It is important to note that individuals may continue to test positive after an initial positive test for a long period of time, due to ‘leftovers’ of non-viral traces infectious from your initial infection. “
Lehnertz said that in the rare documented cases of reinfection worldwide, people became ill for the second time from one to six months after the initial infection.
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Minnesota recorded record infection rates, with nearly 300,000 people testing positive in the past 90 days.
State health officials recommend that Minnesotans do not assume that they are protected from the virus, simply because they recently tested positive.
Lehnertz said: “Our understanding is constantly evolving as we learn more about the virus and the immune response. Therefore, universal masking and appropriate social detachment remain absolutely imperative for everyone, regardless of whether they have been exposed previously. SARS -CoV-2, or have received the vaccination COVID-19. “
Georgiou added: “I hope people really take seriously that there is no ‘free pass’ that people get just because they have had COVID. Since we don’t have the science yet, it would be safer to wash your hands, social distance, wear a mask and suppose that you are still vulnerable to being infected and infecting others. “