Re-positive PCR of SARS-CoV-2 in health care persons during COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Cellular and Molecular Biology Vol. 67; no. 5; pp. 138 - 143
• Main Authors: Alebouyeh, Masoud, Aavani, Pooya, Abdulrahman, Nareen Arif, Haleem, Azad Abduljabar, Karimi, Abdollah, Armin, Shahnaz, Fallah, Fatemeh, Amirali, Arezu, Sadr, Saeed, Ghandchi, Ghazaleh, Abdollahi, Nafiseh, Ghanaie, Roxana Mansour, Tabatabaei, Sedigheh Rafiei, Fahimzad, Seyed Alireza, Razmara, Raheleh, Alzahrani, Khalid J., Khanbabaee, Ghamartaj, Vaghefi, Soheila Sadat, Imanzadeh, Farid, Eshghi, Peyman, Azimi, Leila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04.02.2022
• ISSN: 0145-5680; 1165-158X
• DOI: 10.14715/cmb/2021.67.5.19

Reinfection rate with SARS-CoV-2 and degree of protection by the induced antibody after the first episode of the infection is not well known, so it makes a big dilemma for health care personnel (HCP) who work in the front line of combating SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we investigated the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 redetection among HCP after the initial onset of the infection in a children’s hospital during one year. Out of 131 seropositive HCP, 13.7% of them were symptomatic and PCR positive during 74-360 days after first sampling. Analysis of demographic data of seropositive HCP showed a correlation between a higher number of family members, higher body mass index, and the existence of underlying diseases with SARS-CoV-2 redetection. In conclusion, reinfection is one of the important problems in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Research on this topic can help us to find answers to questions for estimating the duration of human protection with produced immunity after the infection or vaccination.