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The coronavirus-caused COVID-19 disease spreads in the blink of an eye, but the vast majority of patients recover. However, in many affected countries, the number of people who have recovered is very low, especially in the early stages of the epidemic. This is influenced by a complex and time-consuming procedure that confirms that a given patient has recovered from COVID-19 and is not infected with the coronavirus.
COVID-19 is a disease that often takes days to progress and koronawirus SARS-CoV-2 it can stay in the body and be contagious even when symptoms start to improve. As a result, weeks may pass from the moment the infection is caught until the patient is fully healed. When the coronavirus enters the body, it can multiply on average from 1 to 14 days – this is the incubation period of the coronavirus, during which the infected person has no symptoms, but can infect others. Most often, the first symptoms appear within 5 days.
When someone becomes infected with the coronavirus, an immune response kicks in and the immune system produces antibodies to fight the pathogen. Some people are infected with the coronavirus asymptomatically, others develop flu-like symptoms. They begin to subside only when the antibodies successfully limit the multiplication of the virus and minimize the number of active pathogens. However, even significant getting better does not mean recoveryand the patient must remain isolated until doctors confirm complete cure of the disease.
The duration of mild COVID-19 disease lasts an average of a week, but in severe cases, the healing process takes up to six weeks. Even after the symptoms have disappeared, the patient cannot be considered healthy immediately. It is necessary to confirm with laboratory tests that there are no more coronaviruses in the patient’s body. Until then, a patient who has contracted an infectious disease is considered to be healer – this means that his symptoms subside and he is recovering.
Read more: How long does it take to recover from coronavirus infection?
When is a patient considered to have recovered from COVID-19?
A person who has recovered from COVID-19 must meet certain criteria to which they belong improvement of the clinical condition i two negative coronavirus test results. As reported by the CDC, resolution of clinical symptoms must include fever. The absence of fever should last for at least three days without treatment. Additionally, the patient must improve with other symptoms as well, including coughing and shortness of breath. As for the second criterion, the results of the laboratory tests, they must be negative twice in a row.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends testing people with COVID-19 confirmation. In order to monitor the course of the disease and the progress of treatment in hospitalized patients, it is recommended to perform RT-PCR tests on the basis of samples taken from the upper and lower respiratory tract. To make a person healthy after having coronavirus infection requires:
- finding resolution of clinical symptoms;
- two negative laboratory test results for coronavirus that were carried out with a minimum time interval of 24 hours.
As the death rate among those infected with SARS-CoV-2 is relatively low, the number of people who recover will increase over time. More patients will gradually overcome infections, and as the number of new infections decreases, the waiting time for test results will also be reduced.
There is still a lack of research to determine whether people who have contracted COVID-19 may be re-infected with the coronavirus. Typically, in the case of viral infections, the body becomes resistant to the strain that has attacked it. Thanks to this, the next time it is exposed to the same pathogen, it quickly stops it, there are no symptoms, and the disease does not develop. However, resistance to some viruses weakens over time. It is not known whether this phenomenon also applies to the coronavirus.
Another issue is mutating viruses. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, it has already been found that the coronavirus has different mutations. This is another variable that makes it difficult to say unequivocally whether people who have recovered and developed resistance to one strain of coronavirus will prove vulnerable to another.
Have a question about the coronavirus? Send them to the following address: [email protected]. You will find a daily updated list of answers HERE: Coronavirus – frequently asked questions and answers.
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- Coverage of the COVID-19 coronavirus [MAP]
- Coronavirus victims in Poland. What’s the average age?
- Nutritional mistakes that weaken immunity. What to avoid in times of coronavirus?