Siberian Virologist Reinfects Himself With Coronavirus in Experiment to Test Immunity
▻https://www.newsweek.com/siberia-virologist-reinfection-covid-antibodies-1543144
L’infection initiale n’a été diagnostiquée que rétrospectivement, via la présence d’anticorps, après un tableau compatible avec 1 #COVID-19,
He and his research team at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, then started recording the way his antibodies “behaved,” recording how levels in his body changed over time.
“The observation [showed] a fairly rapid decrease,” he told the newspaper referring to his antibody levels. “By the end of the third month from the onset of the disease, they ceased to be determined.”
He then decided to get reinfected to see how his body responded. He did this by spending time with patients with coronavirus, without wearing a mask. Every two weeks he was tested to see if he had been reinfected.
Six months after his initial illness, “protection fell,” he said. He became ill for a second time, testing positive for the disease. Over the course of the second infection, he was hospitalized. He suffered from a high temperature, lost his sense of smell and X-rays showed pneumonia. “The pain was more severe than the first time,” he told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
There are a number of problems with Chepurnov’s experiment. Because his first case of COVID-19 was only found via antibodies, it is difficult to determine whether he suffered from two different strains of the virus. This is required to confirm a person has been reinfected with #SARS-CoV-2, rather than the original virus reemerging in the body. He also points out, his reaction may not be the same as other people. Far more cases of reinfection will need to be studied before any conclusions are drawn about immunity.
However, Chepurnov’s case largely falls in line with reports of other reinfection cases reported in the scientific literature.
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Chepurnov said his own experiment is a warning against a herd immunity approach.