COVID-19 UPDATE

COVID-19 UPDATE:  SERO RECONVERSION NOT SAME AS REINFECTION.              Sociomedia is awash with reports of successfully recovered cases in China      testing positive again.            This report is already sending shockwaves in the mind of the populace but I'll like to advise for calm. It's common for such to happen and there are certain circumstances prevalent in such situation.                              In my last update, I stated that exposure to the virus might not translate to disease. For the same reason, people who already recovered could equally test positive. Why?                        A virus is regarded as a phage. The reason being that they have this tendency to spring-in their genetic make up, RNA for Ribonucleic acid or DNA for Deoxyribonucleic acid into the host cell to encode and decode the cell with a view to fooling the host cell to produce plasmids or viral particles or outright multiplication of the invader.                                           The signature vector in the progressive treatment of HIV/AIDS is sero tracking, monitoring and CDA count. Reports of HIV patients who sero converted to negative abound.  Again certain patient still remain positive irrespective of significant improvement in their clinical status. All these are accounted for by the abundance of viral particles. HIV is not same as COVID-19 for the latter is a flu virus with predeletion for respiratory syncithium.  However, the mode of phage action remains same. The virus additionally has the preponderance to stimulate the goblet cells lining the respiratory pathway, forcing them to produce thick mucus which blocks the pathway leading to the formation of mucus plug which is responsible for the extreme respiratory distress and failure which usually kills the patient due to hypoxia and anoxia.         The fact that these recovered patients are testing positive again if you like, reconverting again does not translate to new infections but due viral particles or presence of a new viral strain. Since this is a developing story, we are not armed with enough clinical presentation or clinistics of these patients to warrant branding or making absolute conclusions. If these patients remain clinically stable, it means, the current development has to do with immune response to viral particles. Should they develop clinical signs and symptoms, it would mean either they are immuno compromised or presence of new viral strain. The clinical picture will act as a guideline for typification and classification. We expect more reports as the days pass by.        Dr. Ikechukwu Onyekwelonwu.