Positive is not necessarily disease, negative is not necessarily cured and how to overcome “re-infection” of COVID-19

As of the morning of March 17, according to data from the Ministry of Health, during this fourth outbreak, more than 6 million people were found to be infected with COVID-19 in our whole country, more than half of which have been recognized from the hospital. sick. However, being cured does not mean you will have “super antibodies” or immunity to COVID-19. You can go on to test positive a second time, even a third time, in just a few months. Currently, recorded from many localities, including Ho Chi Minh City, the number of “re-infected” cases of COVID-19 is increasing extremely rapidly. There are hospitals, boarding houses, schools, the number of re-infections accounts for 20-50% of the total number of infections; consumes a lot of resources of the health sector and society as a whole.

The number of COVID-19 re-infections is on the rise

At a hostel in Ho Chi Minh City, students here said that they had just received a notice to study online at home because too many students asked for leave due to COVID-19 infection and re-infection.

“There are 90 people in my class, about 40 of them have F0, of which about a dozen are re-infected, so I find this re-infection quite common,” said Ngo Anh Tuan, a student in Ho Chi Minh City. Tuan himself was also reinfected, but his symptoms were mild and he was negative after 5 days.

Now many people in Ho Chi Minh City have been more active and calm in epidemic prevention. The hostel in Tan Hung ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City separates the bathroom, the place to dry clothes, prepares all the necessities to be ready to “live with F0”.

Ms. Pham Thi Thu Nga – the owner of the inn said: “We are always ready to prepare for you here as if we did not rent out all, but left 1 room as an isolation room if anyone was infected, Avoid spreading the virus to your roommates.”

The Department of Infectious Diseases of Le Van Thinh Hospital in Thu Duc City has 25 beds, 24 of which are being treated for COVID-19. Half of them are reinfection cases.

Doctor Vo Thanh Hung – Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases – Le Van Thinh Hospital – Ho Chi Minh City said: “When re-infected, they also inject booster shots or have antibodies at the first infection, so the symptoms are not as aggressive as the first infection. Last time, only mild fever, headache or cold, runny nose like seasonal flu, but no difficulty breathing or respiratory failure.”

According to the doctors, if there is a second re-infection, it is likely that there will also be a third and fourth re-infection, this depends a lot on whether or not there are new variants after Delta and Omicron, as well as other factors. proactive preventive measures of the people.

Overcoming “COVID-19 re-infection”

According to the latest announcement of the Ministry of Health, so far, the total number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that has been administered across the country has exceeded 200 million doses. Currently, we become one of the six countries with the highest vaccination coverage rate in the world. All localities have injected 100% of people over 18 years old. Many localities have injected 3rd dose – booster shot, booster shot. Those efforts are worth it. And thanks to that, when facing the current wave of “re-infection”, the whole society’s mood has changed a lot.

On March 6, the Ministry of Health consulted with the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, allowing the case of F0, who has no symptoms, is in isolation, but voluntarily returns to work. can work online or take care of someone with COVID-19. And F1 is allowed to participate in both online and in-person jobs. Based on this proposal and the Government’s Directive 128, the latest is that Long An province is the first locality that has just issued temporary regulations for asymptomatic cases of F0 and F1 – to work. Of course, must ensure the requirements of epidemic prevention. These are considered open steps, in accordance with the spirit of “adaptation and flexibility”, removing the urgent need for labor shortages of production facilities; the need to work for income of workers. With the common desire to “early overcome the pandemic to recover in all aspects”.

Since the 4th wave of epidemics from the end of April last year until now, the context of COVID-19 prevention and control across the country has had many changes such as vaccination rates, new variants, habits and psychology. calmer before the epidemic of the people. Among them are new concepts that, if understood clearly and scientifically, will help us fight the epidemic more effectively.

New concepts in husband’s room COVID-19

In hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, the concept of “F0 treat F0” has become popular. Many doctors, medical staff, who have been re-infected with COVID-19 but have no symptoms, are still working as usual.

According to doctors, the concept of positive and negative for COVID-19 has now changed: Positive does not mean sick! If you have no symptoms, you are a healthy person carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

According to Dr. Dr. Phan Minh Hoang – Director of Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Rehabilitation and Occupational Diseases: “We can compare with healthy people who carry the B virus or the C virus. It’s just that the Healthy people carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus can infect others through droplets, through contact, so it is recommended by the health department to be isolated, to avoid contact with the community, after 3 to 5 days, the load If the virus is low, you can return to work and daily life”.

On the contrary, according to doctors, being negative does not mean being cured, you may have post-COVID-19 sequelae, need to be screened.

Another new concept, that is infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – can “accumulate viral content through contact”, so it is very important for people to pay attention to prevent it.

Specialist 2 Nguyen Duy Tai – Deputy Director of Le Van Thinh Hospital – Ho Chi Minh City said: “If we come into contact with a large number of people in a short time, it does not mean that we only spread the virus. If the virus is infected from one person, it can infect many people, then the viral load is very high, the virus dynamics is strong, then we will be seriously ill.”

A high viral load also means that you will easily infect others if you come into close contact.

With the new knowledge that doctors note, it can be seen that the current wave of COVID-19 infections is not too worrisome in terms of symptoms. But with the extremely rapid spread, it is very necessary for people to understand scientifically to take effective prevention measures while ensuring production recovery and adaptation in the new situation.

According to The Ha – Dac Hien