Nurse Got Infected Three Times in One Year 確診康復護理師 1年染疫3次症狀更嚴重

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in this current wave has already surpassed one million. Many of the cases are reinfections, including a nurse who caught COVID-19 three times over the course of a year, with each case more severe than the previous one.

The epidemic situation in Taiwan shows no signs of slowing. It's believed that for people who recover from COVID-19, immunity can last about 3 months. The Central Epidemic Command Center recently even said that people who recover have "invincible immunity" and won't get re-infected, so they won't be listed as contacts or have to quarantine. However, there is the case of a nurse who got infected on three separate occasions over the course of a year. Each case was more severe than the previous one.

Lee Chien-chang, Doctor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine, NTU Hospital: “Genetics has an effect on immune systems. Some people are naturally immune to certain types of bacteria, while others don't have any immunity. Those who developed the so-called invincible immunity can still get re-infected later on.”

Huang Hsuan, Critical Care Physician: “The properties of the Omicron variant make it easier to escape immunity, so many antibodies can't fight it.”

According to CECC statistics, there are 1,212 people who have gotten infected twice since 2020. There is no consensus yet on whether the symptoms of a second infection are milder. Doctors say the belief that reinfection won't occur within three months' time probably only applies to the exact same sequence. The virus infected too many people after it started spreading at the community level, so there will be sequence replication errors. If the sequence differs, then reinfection can occur. This is specific to the Omicron variant.

Chiang Kuan-yu, Doctor, Taipei City Hospital Zhongxing Branch: “People who got infected in the past no longer have "invincible immunity." There are so many Omicron BA.1 2 3 4 5 and BA.2 subtypes, so when there is a comparatively large difference in the sequence and people get infected a second time and the viral concentration is high, then they can still get infected.”

Doctors remind the public that COVID-19 is harmful, especially to those with chronic illnesses. Those with breathing difficulties and palpitations even after recovery from COVID-19 should seek medical treatment to determine if there is pulmonary fibrosis and medications are needed.

國內新冠疫情持續，確診者在染疫後，三個月內將獲得到一定的病毒抵抗力，指揮中心日前曾提到，康復者有如獲得「無敵星星」不會再被匡列、隔離、確診，但卻有確診康復的護理師一年多來染疫三次，而且症狀一次比一次嚴重。

台大急診醫學部醫師李建璋指出：「人的一個免疫系統在體內，其實跟我們的遺傳基因都有影響，有的人就是先天對某一類的病菌特別有抵抗力，有些人對某一類就特別沒有抵抗力，像有一些得到所謂無敵星星但以後再染疫，這個的確是會發生。」

重症醫療科醫師黃軒認為：「Omicron的病毒特性已經變得比較容易逃脫免疫，所以很多的抗體就無法抵抗它。」

根據指揮中心統計，自2020年迄今，有兩次確診紀錄者共有1212人，至於二度染疫症狀是否較輕，目前還沒定論。醫師表示，所謂三個月內不會重複感染，應該是指完全一模一樣的序列才有可能不會再感染，台灣在進入社區大流行後，病毒已經感染太多人，會出現序列複製錯誤的狀況，所以序列如果差異有點大還是會被感染，這是Omicron特有的情況。

北市聯醫中興院區醫師姜冠宇表示：「你過去染疫然後現在是無敵星星，已經沒有這樣的事情了。Omicron它這個BA.12345，還有BA.2有這麼多的一個亞型，其實只要(病毒)序列差異有點大，然後對方二度感染，病毒濃度是高的話，都還是會被感染。」

醫師也提醒，新冠病毒對於身體不好，尤其是有多重慢性疾病的民眾影響較大，若民眾在染疫康復後仍有呼吸喘、心悸等症狀，還是要去就醫，判斷是否有肺纖維化等症狀，並開立藥物治療。