Wisconsin patient tests positive for coronavirus for second time
A Wisconsin patient has been reinfected with the coronavirus, according to health officials.
A Wisconsin patient has been reinfected with the coronavirus, according to health officials.
A Wisconsin patient has been reinfected with the coronavirus, according to health officials.
A Wisconsin patient has been reinfected with the coronavirus, according to health officials.
Continuing Coverage: Coronavirus in Wisconsin
The La Crosse County Health Department made the announcement Tuesday.
Health officials said the patient tested positive more than three months after first contracting the virus.
Scientists studying the virus have yet to report a case that was confirmed to be a reinfection, and not a flare-up of a previous infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month said there had been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 reinfection, but scientists continue to investigate the possibility.
Health experts said people were likely suffering from the same illness or the tests detected remnants of the original infection.
There's also the chance tests could have been false positives.
Health officials in La Crosse County said the patient's symptoms were not the same the second time around.
A total of 854 positive cases have been reported in La Crosse County. One patient has died.
Health officials have not released any additional details on the patient who tested positive for a second time.
So far, in Milwaukee County, there haven't been any reported COVID-19 reinfection cases but a doctor at Froedtert Hospital said that might just show how little is known about it.
"In three months, I'm sure we're going to have a much better idea about what this means," said Dr. Mary Beth Graham of Froedtert Hospital & Medical College of Wisconsin.
Froedtert's medical director of infection prevention said a COVID-19 reinfection would be an especially troubling omen for efforts to develop an effective vaccine.
"It does cause a lot of angst for all of us thinking about, 'Well, what does that mean for a vaccine?' Because if you give a vaccine, how long-lived is the immunity from a vaccine going to be?" Graham said.
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