SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and implications for vaccine development
Firzan Nainu, Rufika S. Abidin, Muh. Akbar Bahar, Andri Frediansyah, Talha Bin Emran, Ali A. Rabaan, Kuldeep Dhama, Harapan Harapan
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern. Multiple vaccine candidates for COVID-19, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have entered clinical trials. However, some evidence suggests that patients who have recovered from COVID-19 can be reinfected. For example, in China, two discharged COVID-19 patients who had recovered and fulfilled the discharge criteria for COVID-19 were retested positive to a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for the virus. This finding is critical and could hamper COVID-19 vaccine development. This review offers literature-based evidence of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, provides explanation for the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection both from the agent and host points of view, and discusses its implication for COVID-19 vaccine development.