Assam: A woman doctor in Assam was infected with two distinct strains of the Sars-Cov-2 virus at the same time, revealed the tests conducted at regional medical research centre (RMRC) in Dibrugarh of Indian Council for Medical Research.
Despite being completely vaccinated, the doctor got infected with the Alpha and Delta variants of the virus, a month after receiving the second dosage. She experienced minor symptoms and recovered without the need for hospitalisation.
Dr B J Borkakoty, senior scientist at RMRC said: ‘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.’
Most Covid-19 cases in Assam during the first stages of the second wave, around February-March this year, were due to the Alpha type, he added. Then, after the April assembly elections, instances of Delta variant illnesses began to appear.
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It was detected in early May by the RMRC lab that the doctor had two infections. In addition to her, her husband was also infected with the Alpha variant.
Dr. Anurag Agarwal, director, CSIR-IGIB in Delhi stated: ‘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.’
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