December 4, 2020

In today's episode we discuss: —Understanding the Pathology: Investigators in South Korea analyzed samples from 6 COVID-19-positive patients at 3 tertiary hospitals who had recovered with negative SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR results and then presented again with subsequent positive rRT-PCR results. One of the patients, a 21-year-old female with allergic rhinitis, recovered with resolution of symptoms, then presented 2 additional times with mild symptoms and subsequent positive testing. A whole-genome sequencing from samples taken at her first and her third presentations found two distinct genomic clades between the viral RNA in the 2 samples, suggesting evolutions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Their findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection may not confer immunity against subsequent reinfections of different strains, and precaution should continue to be taken even after recovery.