Woman Reinfected with Swine Flu
Posted on Nov 06, 2009 by Reena Daruwalla | Comments 0
This Times of India article reports the incidence of a woman contracting the H1N1 Swine flu virus, then undergoing treatment for it and being cured and then once again testing positive for the infection.
This is the case of a 35-year-old housewife from Nana Varacha, near Surat Gujarat who was admitted to hospital in the beginning of October after having tested positive for Swine flu. She was released after receiving treatment that lasted 10 days. She was thereafter readmitted and has once again tested positive for the Swine flu, according to the report.
This is worrying public health officials since there is no mechanism in place that allow cured patients to be retested to rule out the possibility of reinfection or a lingering infection. With the second wave of the flu expected in winter, this is doubly a cause of concern. There is no procedure for retesting as several doctors are reported as having said.
“Generally, a patient who is cured develops natural immunity towards the disease after undergoing the course of medication. However, he is likely to get some new infection that could again lead to recurrence of the disease,” a doctor at the Civil hospital was reported as having said.
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