A public health lab in Nevada has reported the nation's first known COVID-19 reinfection and the world's first known reinfection with severe symptoms, The New York Times reports.
The patient is a 25-year-old man who was reinfected about 48 days after the first infection, according to Nevada health officials. Beginning March 25, he reported a sore throat, cough, nausea and diarrhea. The patient tested positive April 18, recovered by April 27, and tested negative twice.
On May 28, the man began to feel sick again with similar symptoms. He was hospitalized June 5 for shortness of breath and required oxygen.
Scientists found the viruses too different to be an extended first illness. The man had not been tested for antibodies after the first illness, but researchers found that he had them after the second. The findings are expected to be published in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Globally, the first three confirmed reinfections were reported this week, all of which were mild.