COVID-19: Expert warns of re-infection if precautions not taken 

Karachi: Infectious expert recently told that the re-infection of COVID-19 can happen and urged people to wear facemask in public places to avoid the chances of contracting COVID-19, especially when the surge in active coronavirus cases are reported.

In an exclusive conversation with Medical News, Dr Najam A. Zaidi, Infectious Disease Physician at Morton Hospital, USA, warned that ignoring COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can increase the cases and will lead to a jump in infection rate.

Dr Najam said that many people assume that people affected by the second wave of COVID-19 will tend to have severe breathlessness and high fever. He said that there has no evidence of any changes in symptoms, and “they are the same.”

Answering the query regarding that the mutation of the strain of SARS-COV-2, Dr Najam said that such a thing would be highly unlikely. “There has been no such a thing on record or any scientific evidence to report that mutation happened. There are indeed some mutations as with all viruses, but local spread and no major changes in pathogenicity so far have been noted.”

Explaining the importance of smart-lockdown, Dr Najam said that such an action by the government could reduce the active cases. “The actual impact of smart-lock down depends on how ‘smartly’ lockdown has been implemented. Suppose markets, especially animal markets or crowded ones, are partially opened, and schools opt for alternating shifts to reduce class

size and distance learning. In that case, I am sure the cases will see a downward trend. But having said that, wearing a mask is an utmost necessity to ensure COVID-19 transmission is prevented.

Answering a question regarding the possibility of re-infection, Dr Najam said that re-infection could happen. “But still it is very unlikely to happen and hence an uncommon. To be more precise, re-infection cannot happen to anyone less than 4-6months brackets. Even if it happens, it will be usually less severe. However, we still don’t know what re-infection will look like and how the vaccines will prevent it from happening. Research is still going on.”

-MN Report