ArticleThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2021
Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study.
Article in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 473 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
473 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Risk Factors Contributing to Reinfection by SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Global prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 reinfection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Does potential antibody-dependent enhancement occur during SARS-CoV-2 infection after natural infection or vaccination? A meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Clinical manifestations, treatment options, and comorbidities in COVID-19 relapse patients: A systematic review.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Pooled it
- Reinfection in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review.Global health research and policy · 2022Pooled it
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Sequence Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Persistence and Reinfection.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Pooled it
- Reinfection rates among patients previously infected by SARS-CoV-2: systematic review and meta-analysis.Chinese medical journal · 2022Pooled it
- Development of SARS-CoV2 humoral response including neutralizing antibodies is not sufficient to protect patients against fatal infection.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Trajectory of Viral RNA Load Among Persons With Incident SARS-CoV-2 G614 Infection (Wuhan Strain) in Association With COVID-19 Symptom Onset and Severity.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Durable T-cellular and humoral responses in SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized and community patients.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Review
- COVID-19-Related Healthcare Utilization and Costs in a Large Insured US Population, 2021-2025.Applied health economics and health policy · 2026Observational
- Genome-wide annotation of human multi-nucleotide variants reveals widespread functional differences from single nucleotide variants.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Final-Size Solutions for SIRI Models with Vaccination.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2026Article
- Disentangling SARS-CoV-2 Sustained Viremia Cases: Evolution, Persistence and Reinfection.Viruses · 2026Article
- COVID-19 re-infection: a large cross-sectional population-based study in the northeast of Iran.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Characteristic Symptoms and Associated Risk Factors of COVID-19 Reinfection in the Indonesian Community.Yonago acta medica · 2025Article
- Clinical and immunological insights into SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: a propensity score-matched cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Repeated detection of SARS-CoV-2 in pet dogs in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria: a cause for vigilance.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
413 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe degree of protective immunity conferred by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently unknown. As such, the possibility of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 is not well understood. We describe an investigation of two instances of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the same individual.
methodsA 25-year-old man who was a resident of Washoe County in the US state of Nevada presented to health authorities on two occasions with symptoms of viral infection, once at a community testing event in April, 2020, and a second time to primary care then hospital at the end of May and beginning of June, 2020. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from the patient at each presentation and twice during follow-up. Nucleic acid amplification testing was done to confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection. We did next-generation sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs. Sequence data were assessed by two different bioinformatic methodologies. A short tandem repeat marker was used for fragment analysis to confirm that samples from both infections came from the same individual.
findingsThe patient had two positive tests for SARS-CoV-2, the first on April 18, 2020, and the second on June 5, 2020, separated by two negative tests done during follow-up in May, 2020. Genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 showed genetically significant differences between each variant associated with each instance of infection. The second infection was symptomatically more severe than the first.
interpretationGenetic discordance of the two SARS-CoV-2 specimens was greater than could be accounted for by short-term in vivo evolution. These findings suggest that the patient was infected by SARS-CoV-2 on two separate occasions by a genetically distinct virus. Thus, previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 might not guarantee total immunity in all cases. All individuals, whether previously diagnosed with COVID-19 or not, should take identical precautions to avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2. The implications of reinfections could be relevant for vaccine development and application.
fundingNevada IDEA Network of Biomedical Research, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (National Institutes of Health).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.