Doctor Found With Two Covid Variants At The Same Time In Assam

Guhwati: A woman doctor has been found to be infected with two different variants – Alpha & Delta – of the Sars-Cov-2 at the same time in the early months of May. The case came to light after tests were conducted at a regional medical research centre (RMRC) in Dibrugarh of the Indian Council for Medical Research.

The doctor showed mild symptoms but has now recovered without the need for hospitalization.

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The doctor was fully vaccinated and was infected with both variants together a month after her second dose. 

“A double infection happens when two variants infect one person simultaneously or within a very short period of time. It occurs when someone gets infected with one variant, but gets re-infected with another variant within 2-3 days of the first infection and before antibodies could develop,” Dr B J Borkakoty, senior scientist at RMRC told Hindustan Times.

“When we tested her samples in our laboratory, we found that she was infected by both Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 at the same time. Her husband was infected by the Alpha variant. The samples of the doctor were collected twice to ascertain and reconfirm the double infection. It is, hence, confirmed that she was infected by both variants at the same time,” Dr Biswajyoti Borkakoty was quoted by India Today. 

He further informed that initially, the cases in the second wave were mostly from the Alpha variant and soon after the elections in April, cases of Delta variant infections started to emerge. 

“While it is very common to get cases of infection with lineage A and reinfection with lineage B, there have also been quite a few cases seen of infection with lineage A + B,” Dr Anurag Agarwal, director, CSIR-IGIB in Delhi told HT.