First Covid-19 reinfection death: 89-year-old Dutch woman dies in Netherlands, two days after chemotherapy

The woman, as reports said, was also being treated for a rare type of white blood cell and cancer and hence her immunity was compromised.

An 89-year-old Dutch woman on Tuesday died of what is believed to be the first reported case of Covid-19 reinfection, the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health has confirmed. Covid-19 reinfection — second infection after getting fully recovered — has surfaced as a new phenomena as a few sporadic cases have been reported across the world. This is the first death caused by the same, reports claimed.

Covid-19 reinfection is an emerging aspect of the ongoing pandemic on which studies are going on. (Representative image) (REUTERS)

The woman, as reports said, was also being treated for a rare type of white blood cell and cancer and hence her immunity was compromised. The second case occurred two days after her chemotherapy.

When she tested Covid-19 positive for the first time, she had severe fever and cough and was hospitalised for a few days. Then she tested negative twice. But after 59 days, she showed the symptoms again and tested positive. Two weeks later, she died.

Medical fraternity is divided over Covid-19 reinfection as studies are being conducted to find out whether these are reinfections or a case of prolonged shedding. It is possible to test negative and then again positive, but not all such cases are Covid-19 reinfections. But in this particular case, researchers found that the strain of the second-time infection was not the same with the first one, hence indicating reinfection.