---
title: "Reinfected Patient’s Second Case of COVID-19 Was Even More Severe"
description: "A coronavirus patient caught the disease on two separate occasions, and the second time around was even more severe than the first."
date: "2020-10-13"
modified: "2020-10-13"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/reinfected-patients-second-case-covid19-more-severe"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
  - "Pathogens"
  - "Viruses"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "immunity"
  - "medicine"
---

# Reinfected Patient’s Second Case of COVID-19 Was Even More Severe

![A coronavirus patient caught the disease on two separate occasions, and the second time around was even more severe than the first.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/reinfected-patients-second-case-covid19-more-severe.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NIAID\</em\>*

A new case report of a Nevada man catching COVID-19 a second time, after he had already recovered, highlights how little we understand about resistance and immunity to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The 25-year-old man first caught the bug in March, when he had symptoms including nausea, diarrhea, headaches, a cough, and a sore throat. He recovered and eventually tested negative, but then developed symptoms again in late May and once more tested positive for COVID-19, *[BBC News ](<https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54512034>)*[reports](<https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54512034>). The trouble is that the disease hit him even harder the [second time around](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-warn-coronavirus-more-than-once>), causing symptoms like shortness of breath and low levels of blood oxygen.

Doctors confirmed that he did recover and was then infected a second time, [according to the case study](<https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30764-7/fulltext#%20>) published Monday in *The Lancet*.

In some cases where the disease re-emerges, it's possible that it merely went dormant for a while the first time. But this particular patient had two [genetically-different strains](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-mutated-coronavirus>) of the coronavirus, according to the research.

"Our findings signal that a previous infection may not necessarily protect against future infection," Dr. Mark Pandori from the University of Nevada told *BBC News*. "The possibility of reinfections could have significant implications for our understanding of COVID-19 immunity."

Confirmed reinfections are rare, but [they do happen](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/catch-coronavirus-twice>). What's more unusual is that the second case of COVID-19 was worse than the first. Typically, those who get sick twice have a fairly similar experience across infections.

It's just one case, but the reinfection illustrates that we still don't know how robust or long-lived our immune system's resistance or immunity to COVID-19 is — and until we do know more, people probably shouldn't [assume they're safe](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/bioethicist-covid19-immunity-passports-bad-idea>) just because they've already recovered from it.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)