A patient in the Netherlands and another in Belgium have been reinfected with the coronavirus, Dutch media reported Tuesday, following reports that scientists in Hong Kong had confirmed the first known reinfection.

The Dutch patient was an older person with a weakened immune system, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported, citing virologist Marion Koopmans.

Koopmans said it was more common for people to remain infected with the virus for a long time, but with mild symptoms, before it suddenly flares up again. A reinfection — as is the case with the Dutch and Belgian cases — requires genetic testing in both the first and second instances of infection to see whether there are differences in the virus present, Koopmans said.

“That someone would pop up with a reinfection, it doesn’t make me nervous,” she said. “We have to see whether it happens often.”

Belgian case ‘not good news’

The Belgian patient displayed only mild symptoms, NOS reported, citing virologist Marc Van Ranst. “It’s not good news,” Ranst said.

Read more: Germany’s coronavirus challenges in the ‘second wave’

The development shows that the antibodies the patient developed in the first case were not strong enough to fend off an infection from a slightly different variant of the virus, he said.

It is not clear if this is a rare phenomenon or if there are “many more people who could have a reinfection after six or seven months,” he said.

First reinfection confirmed in Hong Kong

The European developments follow Monday reports of the first confirmed coronavirus reinfection, a man in Hong Kong.

The 33-year-old, who was infected with the virus in March, returned in mid-August from a trip to Spain infected with a different strain.

Read more: Germany mulls end to mandatory tests for high-risk returnees

“COVID-19 patients should not assume after they recover that they won’t get infected again,” said elvin Kai-Wang To, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong.

“It shows that some people do not have lifelong immunity” to the virus even if they’ve already been infected, To said.

Anger mounts as Spain is again caught by surprise

Some experts see the news as a positive development. “If there is a reinfection, it suggests the possibility there was residual immunity … that helped protect the patient” from getting sick again, said Jesse Goodman, a former US Food and Drug Administration chief scientist, now at Georgetown University, responding to the Hong Kong case.

Read more: Spain’s tourism industry is in deep trouble

The Hong Kong patient did not display any symptoms during his most recent infection.

Implications for vaccine development

The possibility of reinfection has implications for the global race to develop a vaccine and for key decisions on when people return to school and work.

Speaking on the Hong Kong case, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine microbiologist Brendan Wren said the case was “a very rare example of reinfection and it should not negate the global drive to develop COVID-19 vaccines.”

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Update:

Craig Kelly

SHAME

Today in our Federal Parliament, Labor’s Chris Bowen used parliamentary privilege to launch an extraordinary attack on Canadian doctor Kulvinder Gill Kaur, implying that she had made ‘’misleading tweets on hydroxychloroquine’’ and she was engaging in ‘’mis-information and conspiracy theories’’.

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And every Labor Member + Ms Steggall voted for it. Thankfully Bowen’s motion was voted down by the government.

Who would you rather trust in health matters, Dr Kulvinder or Chris Bowen ?

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The thought that Bowen would be Australia’s Health Minister, in some potential future Labor government should send chills up the spine of every Australian

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https://twitter.com/dockaurG

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Here’s Bowen’s motion in full

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2SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS MOVED

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Mr Bowen moved—That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for McMahon from moving the following motion—That the House:

(1)notes that:

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(a)on 25 August 2020, the Member for Hughes gave a speech in the Federation Chamber supporting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19;

(b)in his speech, the Member said that “media bias”, “groupthink” and the “complete abandonment of reason” were driving a “war” on hydroxychloroquine and “the big hand of government … interfer[ing] in a doctor-patient relationship”, and cited a number of medical commentators including:

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(i)Professor Christian Perronne, who is being investigated by the French College of Physicians for his comments on hydroxychloroquine;

(ii)Dr Harvey Risch, who was rebuked by 25 Yale University colleagues for promoting “conspiracy theories, purported hoaxes, and the views of zealots”; and

(iii)Dr Kulvinder Gill, who was criticised by other Canadian doctors for misleading tweets on hydroxychloroquine;

(c)in Australia, potential therapies are assessed for safety and efficacy by the independent Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the TGA “strongly discourages the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 … or prevent COVID-19”; and

(d)the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce, comprised of 29 peak health bodies, has also advised that “hydroxychloroquine is potentially harmful and no more effective than standard care”; and

(2)affirms that it is the responsibility of all public officeholders to acknowledge and support the independence and expertise of the TGA and counter misinformation and conspiracy theories.

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To their eternal shame, here’s the names for history to record of the members of the Australian Parliament that supported a Bowen’s motion.

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Mr Albanese

Mr Conroy

Mr Husic

Ms Rishworth

Mr Bowen

Mrs Elliot

Ms M. M. H. King

Ms Rowland

Mr Burke

Mr Fitzgibbon

Dr Leigh

Ms Stanley

Ms Burney

Dr Freelander

Ms McBain

Ms Steggall

Mr M. C. Butler

Mr Gorman

Ms Murphy

Ms Templeman

Dr Chalmers

Mr Gosling

Mr O’Connor

Mr Thistlethwaite

Ms L. M. Chesters

Dr Haines

Ms Payne

Ms Wells

Mr Clare

Mr Hayes

Mrs Phillips

Mr Zappia

Ms Collins

Mr Hill

Ms Plibersek