Clinical Presentation of Cases with SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection/ Reactivation.

Mahajan, Niraj N; Gajbhiye, Rahul K; Lokhande, Pradip D; Bahirat, Shubhada; Modi, Deepak; Mathe, Apeksha M; Bharmal, Ramesh; Rathi, Surbhi; Mohite, Shailesh C; Tilve, Arundhati

Background Reinfection/reactivation of SARS-CoV-2 has been a matter of great interest from the immunological and vaccine perspective. However, little is known about the clinical presentation of such reinfection/reactivation. We report a case series of 9 COVID-19 patients having experienced two clinically- and/or virologically-confirmed episodes of COVID-19. Methods Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 9 healthcare workers (HCWs) with two episodes of SARS-CoV-2 are described. Results The incidence of reinfection/reactivation amongst the HCWs was 2% (9 out of 491) with an average remission period of 66 days (range 43-78 days). Amongst the cases of reinfection 4/9 were asymptomatic in first episode were symptomatic in second episode. There is negative correlation between numbers of days the patients took to become SARS-CoV-2 negative by RT-CPR and/or clinically recover in the first episode and the second episode irrespective for the time spent in remission. Conclusion Shorter durations of SARS-COV-2 infection in the first episode are associated with longer time to recovery in the second episode in patients with re-infection/reactivation.