Mystery In Wuhan: Recovered Coronavirus Patients Test Negative ... Then Positive

This doesn't sound good!

A spate of mysterious second-time infections is calling into question the accuracy of COVID-19 diagnostic tools even as China prepares to lift quarantine measures to allow residents to leave the epicenter of its outbreak next month. It's also raising concerns of a possible second wave of cases.

From March 18-22, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported no new cases of the virus through domestic transmission — that is, infection passed on from one person to another. The achievement was seen as a turning point in efforts to contain the virus, which has infected more than 80,000 people in China. Wuhan was particularly hard-hit, with more than half of all confirmed cases in the country.

But some Wuhan residents who had tested positive earlier and then recovered from the disease are testing positive for the virus a second time. Based on data from several quarantine facilities in the city, which house patients for further observation after their discharge from hospitals, about 5%-10% of patients pronounced "recovered" have tested positive again.

Some of those who retested positive appear to be asymptomatic carriers — those who carry the virus and are possibly infectious but do not exhibit any of the illness's associated symptoms — suggesting that the outbreak in Wuhan is not close to being over.

www.npr.org...

This is the big problem with this virus, there's so much we don't know. Hopefully this is just a mistake due to testing.

It is possible they were first given a false negative test result, which can happen if the swab used to collect samples of the virus misses bits of the virus. Dr. Li Wenliang, a whistleblowing doctor who later died of the virus himself in February, tested negative for the coronavirus several times before being accurately diagnosed.

So hopefully, they were always positive and were misdiagnosed as negative.

I'm just glad they're catching this now. If 5-10% of people labeled recovered can test positive again and be asymptomatic carriers, that would be nuts and could point to a man made virus.

Could that second positive test mean a second round of infection? Virologists think it is unlikely that a COVID-19 patient could be re-infected so quickly after recovery but caution that it is too soon to know.

If COVID-19 is reinfecting 5-10% of patients that's supposed to be recovered and it's not natural to happen so quickly, then questions need to be asked.

I thought it was known a person could be reinfected? I think that was one of the first things I heard about.

originally posted by: underwerks
I thought it was known a person could be reinfected? I think that was one of the first things I heard about.

Probably. That's why they tell everybody to get an annual flu shot.

originally posted by: underwerks
I thought it was known a person could be reinfected? I think that was one of the first things I heard about.

I dont think this is about peeps getting reinfected. I think its about patients being clear then found to have the virus again. Its possible maybe for example that the virus is not actually going away and that is lying dormant in people.

a reply to: purplemer

Which in itself is problematic. That could mean that they are still contagious.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: purplemer

Which in itself is problematic. That could mean that they are still contagious.

How would this pan out if its the case. Not very well I presume.

It might be like chicken pox or something, it hides in the body till it is activated again. The new disease is then shingles. Maybe this virus will lead to another kind of disease, or maybe it might reactivate and help to improve immunity. Hard to tell until they get more info on this virus over time.

a reply to: neoholographic

Spain reported the test kits they got from China don't work. I would guess it depends on what tests you use.

Anyone who think China Miraculously flatlined new cases is being foolish.

originally posted by: neoholographic
I'm just glad they're catching this now. If 5-10% of people labeled recovered can test positive again and be asymptomatic carriers, that would be nuts and could point to a man made virus.

Or...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

If I get the flu, suffer for a few days to a week or two, then get over it, but in the meantime, I gave it to my wife, who doesn't come down with symptoms for a week or two after I get over it...

then, a few weeks later...

Can't I catch it from her, and start all over again?

I remember about 4 years ago, when my now 5 1/2 yr old first started at our local Montessori daycare/school, we passed stuff back and forth for months on end, getting sick, getting over it, getting it again. I'm very healthy, and hadn't been sick in a long time so, didn't suffer much from symptoms, but my poor wife - well, she eats a huge amount of sugar, eats lots of empty carbs, etc, and doesn't take anything in the way of super foods or supplements. She got it really bad.

So, I don't think this is all that abnormal or anything to be concerned about...

Is it...?

Hhmmm... maybe their worthless testing kits has something to do with it?

Communist Quality Control: Beijing Sends 150,000 Wuhan Virus Testing Kits to Prague, 80% Fail

originally posted by: underwerks
I thought it was known a person could be reinfected? I think that was one of the first things I heard about.

It has been known..maybe with more frequency than first thought..not good.

originally posted by: Deny Arrogance
Hhmmm... maybe their worthless testing kits has something to do with it?

Communist Quality Control: Beijing Sends 150,000 Wuhan Virus Testing Kits to Prague, 80% Fail

And that is quite plausible

a reply to: vonclod

It's also plausible that like ebolavirus , being tiny and intracellular , it's living on dormant in body cavities and post recovery emerges to reinfect the carrier.
In that case whether antibodies already gained act to finishoff the remaining virus , or not , as in some ebola cases , would be the question.

China is already closing movie theaters they just recently opened. Wonder why?

originally posted by: pavil
China is already closing movie theaters they just recently opened. Wonder why?

Population is dying and lack of demand.

a reply to: neoholographic

If we see a second wave of infection then its safe to say we are screwed.

Turn of the century plague- check.

Looming world war- check

Dissidence and political instability- check

The next 100 years are going to be pretty predictable.

Can we just skip to the 2nd world war of the century, do the cold war thing with maybe China for a while and then have our hegemony threatened by a Chilean led Southern American Union. Wait thats next century after this one.

Lol. Im kidding. But also....lol

originally posted by: tanstaafl

originally posted by: neoholographic
I'm just glad they're catching this now. If 5-10% of people labeled recovered can test positive again and be asymptomatic carriers, that would be nuts and could point to a man made virus.

Or...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

If I get the flu, suffer for a few days to a week or two, then get over it, but in the meantime, I gave it to my wife, who doesn't come down with symptoms for a week or two after I get over it...

then, a few weeks later...

Can't I catch it from her, and start all over again?

I remember about 4 years ago, when my now 5 1/2 yr old first started at our local Montessori daycare/school, we passed stuff back and forth for months on end, getting sick, getting over it, getting it again. I'm very healthy, and hadn't been sick in a long time so, didn't suffer much from symptoms, but my poor wife - well, she eats a huge amount of sugar, eats lots of empty carbs, etc, and doesn't take anything in the way of super foods or supplements. She got it really bad.

So, I don't think this is all that abnormal or anything to be concerned about...

Is it...?

My wife is a microbiologist and that's only the reason I know this, but you can't catch the same virus twice. It's not how your immune system functions. Your immune system has memory and it's how it recognizes previous infections enabling to fight them off. If the virus mutates and its structure is changed your immune system will not recognize it as fast so you may fall Ill but not as bad as the first time. I think the mutation has to be fairly large to be unrecognizable, though. At least that's what she told me last week.

originally posted by: Flesh699

originally posted by: tanstaafl

originally posted by: neoholographic
I'm just glad they're catching this now. If 5-10% of people labeled recovered can test positive again and be asymptomatic carriers, that would be nuts and could point to a man made virus.

Or...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

If I get the flu, suffer for a few days to a week or two, then get over it, but in the meantime, I gave it to my wife, who doesn't come down with symptoms for a week or two after I get over it...

then, a few weeks later...

Can't I catch it from her, and start all over again?

I remember about 4 years ago, when my now 5 1/2 yr old first started at our local Montessori daycare/school, we passed stuff back and forth for months on end, getting sick, getting over it, getting it again. I'm very healthy, and hadn't been sick in a long time so, didn't suffer much from symptoms, but my poor wife - well, she eats a huge amount of sugar, eats lots of empty carbs, etc, and doesn't take anything in the way of super foods or supplements. She got it really bad.

So, I don't think this is all that abnormal or anything to be concerned about...

Is it...?

My wife is a microbiologist and that's only the reason I know this, but you can't catch the same virus twice. It's not how your immune system functions. Your immune system has memory and it's how it recognizes previous infections enabling to fight them off. If the virus mutates and its structure is changed your immune system will not recognize it as fast so you may fall Ill but not as bad as the first time. I think the mutation has to be fairly large to be unrecognizable, though. At least that's what she told me last week.

Gonna go ahead and call Bull# on this
Why?
Well there are well known virus' like Herpes Simplex HVS1 and HVS-2 that can stay in your system. As can HPV...without mutation and without symptoms or even diagnosis...

originally posted by: Flesh699

My wife is a microbiologist and that's only the reason I know this, but you can't catch the same virus twice. It's not how your immune system functions. Your immune system has memory and it's how it recognizes previous infections enabling to fight them off. If the virus mutates and its structure is changed your immune system will not recognize it as fast so you may fall Ill but not as bad as the first time. I think the mutation has to be fairly large to be unrecognizable, though. At least that's what she told me last week.

I'll second this. This mechanism is why the HIV virus is so devastating. HIV kills (in most cases) the helper T cells that are important in the recognition of foreign entities in the human body. That is why people get AIDS.

You can get an infection twice from the same entity; but your immune system will react much quicker. After the second infection, your immune system will always be ready for the foreign entity. Thus reducing infections and infection times to a minimum.

If a virus has incorporated itself into a cells genome it will stay there for years. You may never get an infection response since it has such a low concentration. Realize that everybody's immune system reacts differently. That is why some people will react to poison ivy etc. and other will not. Likewise, when a body is stressed; then the entity may cause a reinfection due to a compromised immune system. The entity is being replicated again while the human body is being stressed. This is more the condition for herpes.