Coronavirus Can Be Dormant And Reactivate Like Chickenpox, Doctors And Experts Suggest

Even though South Korea is one of the few countries that have been able to bring the coronavirus pandemic somewhat under control and flatten its curve with the help of measures like extensive drive-thru testing, the coronavirus is “reactivating” in people declared cured. As a result, experts are afraid that coronavirus shares the patterns of chickenpox that lay dormant and can reactivate later.

While the country did manage to limit the death toll under 300 deaths, with a progressive drop in the number of cases, the hopes that people once exposed to coronavirus develop immunity against it is currently uncertain as per data by the Korean Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

According to the data, 91 documented cases of patients in South Korea had recovered, released from the hospital, and when tested after some time, came out positive again. Though the result may be attributed to a glitch in testing, KCDC director-general, Jeong Eun-kyeong, is of the opinion that the results are not owing to an error in testing or the recovered patients getting re-infected but due to "reactivation" of the virus.

But as per data received from China, the tests conducted before a coronavirus-infected patient was declared cured were far from perfect as they showed up to a 30 percent false-negative rate.

When it comes to the immunity patterns a person infected with coronavirus develops against COVID-19, researchers are divided in their opinions. While some believe that a "short-term" immunity is developed against the virus making it highly unlikely that one would catch it again in the same season, reports of patients testing positive for coronavirus soon after discharge is making researchers reevaluate their initial observation.

So, as per the latest data from the KCDC, chances are that the virus can become dormant, lay “hidden” in our cells, undetectable by the immune system, and, reactivate itself later, replicating and spreading to the neighboring cells- a pattern similar to that of chickenpox.

Varicella-zoster, the virus responsible for chickenpox, remains inactive in your nerve tissue once you have cleared the condition. But in one in three adults, a condition called shingles (painful rashes) occurs, signaling the reactivation of the chickenpox virus.