179 South Korean COVID-19 Survivors Tests Positive Once Again

The South Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) revealed on Sunday, their latest tally included 16 new cases of patients relapsing from the deadly virus, CNN says. This brings the total to 179. According to KCDC, patients who tested positive are mostly in their 20s. They accounted for approximately 22.9% of the total number of patients who were retested, while 17.9% are in their 50s, which translates to 32 cases.

May Have Been Reactivated

According to the director of the KCDC, Jeong Eun-kyeong, they already have launched an investigation to find out why these patients are retesting positive for COVID-19. The director has suggested in the past that the virus may have reactivated after staying dormant inside patients’ bodies.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health describes reactivation as the process by which a dormant virus changes to a lytic stage of replication. The health body further stated that such reactivation might be triggered by a host of external or internal cellular stimuli.

Thousands Of Patients Already Cleared

South Korea’s confirmed COVID-19 infection cases are more than 10,600, and according to reports, over 8,000 patients have already been cleared of the infection. According to the KCDC director, they are keenly looking at reactivation as a likely cause and are already conducting a thorough study on the matter. “There have been many cases when a patient during treatment will test negative one day and positive another,” KCDC director Jeong said.

Other health experts in South Korea say that faulty tests may have a role in all of these. They are also looking at the possibility that coronavirus remnants may have remained in the systems of the patients, but they are not as infectious or pose danger to the host and others. World Health Organization guidelines state that prior to being discharged from the hospital, a clinically recovered coronavirus patient must first test negative twice. These tests should be conducted at least 24 hours apart.

An Emerging Trend

During the past week, reports say that South Korea COVID-19 patients who were being considered for discharge from the hospital after testing negative became positive after later tests were administered. After several cases, the WHO said it would investigate the emerging trend.

In a statement, the WHO revealed they are in close communications with their clinical experts and are currently working hard to secure more data on said cases. “It is important to make sure that when samples are collected for testing on suspected patients, procedures are followed properly,” according to WHO officials.