After getting COVID-19 twice, patients warn of re-infection risk
A COVID-19 ward at a Minnesota hospital.
(FOX 9) - Nina Ali said she was shocked and afraid when her COVID-19 test read positive in August.
“You have this first initial reaction of oh my God, am I going to die?” she said.
Her feelings changed the second time she tested positive in October.
“It was more of wow, I’m embarrassed. I can’t believe that I somehow got myself exposed a second time,” Ali added.
She said getting two positive test results 65 days apart is something she didn’t think was possible.
And neither did Bobby Stevenson who told FOX 9 in an earlier interview that the second time was harder.
“It was kind of weird to me how I felt a lot worse this time,” he said. “Everything was times 100 with my body aches.”
But doctors caution reinfections are possible but not common.
The likely reason for a second positive test is because the virus lingers.
“I could do a PCR-test on you today that would be positive, not because you have the living COVID-19 virus inside you, but because you have fragments in you from three weeks ago,” said Dr. Frank Rhame, who specializes in infectious disease at Allina Health.
As state leaders roll out plans on distributing an anticipated vaccine, Dr. Rhame warns that a vaccine is not the end all be all.
“You’re not necessarily safe if you have COVID-19 before if vaccinated before but you’re not exactly safe.”