香港大學證實有康復者二次感染新冠病毒 屬全球首例

一名新冠肺炎康復者自歐洲返回香港後，其新冠病毒檢測結果再次呈陽性。香港大學微生物學系團隊證實，該患者是第二次感染新冠病毒，屬全球首例。

Hong Kong scientists are reporting the case of a healthy man in his 30s who became reinfected with coronavirus four and a half months after his first bout.

香港科學家報告說，一名30多歲的健康男子在首次感染新冠病毒四個半月後第二次感染。

bout [baʊt]：n.回合；發作

They say genome sequencing shows the two strains of the virus are "clearly different", making it the world's first proven case of reinfection.

科學家表示，基因組測序顯示，兩次感染病毒的毒株“明顯不同”，使之成爲全球首例被證實的二次感染病例。

The World Health Organization warns it is important not to jump to conclusions based on the case of one patient.

世界衛生組織警告說，目前重要的是，不要根據某一個病人的情況就貿然下結論。

jump to conclusions：過早下結論

And experts say reinfections may be rare and not necessarily serious.

專家說，二次感染可能很罕見，而且不一定很嚴重。

There have been more than 23 million cases of coronavirus infection around the world.

目前，全球新冠肺炎確診病例達到2300多萬例。

Those infected develop an immune response as their bodies fight off the virus which helps to protect them against it returning.

當身體對抗病毒時，受感染者會產生一種免疫反應，這種反應有助於保護他們免受二次感染。

The strongest immune response has been found in the most seriously ill patients.

在病情最嚴重的病人身上發現了最強的免疫反應。

But it is still not clear how strong this protection or immunity is - or how long it lasts.

但目前還不清楚這種保護或免疫力有多強，也不清楚它能持續多久。

A medical worker tests novel coronavirus samples at a lab in Beijing, on June 26, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

And the World Health Organization said larger studies over time of people who had previously had coronavirus were needed to find out more.

此外，世界衛生組織表示，還需要對曾感染新冠病毒的人進行更長時間以及更大規模的研究，以發現更多信息。

This report, by the University of Hong Kong, due to be published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, says the man spent 14 days in hospital before recovering from the virus but then, despite having no further symptoms, tested positive for the virus a second time, following a saliva test during airport screening.

香港大學將把報告發表在《臨牀傳染病》期刊上。報告稱，這位男子此前住院14天才從病毒感染中康復。此次該男子沒有任何症狀，但在機場檢測時進行唾液測試，病毒檢測再次呈陽性。

"This is a very rare example of reinfection," said Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis, at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

倫敦衛生和熱帶醫學院的微生物發病機理教授布倫丹·雷恩說：“這是二次感染的一個非常罕見的例子。”

"And it should not negate the global drive to develop Covid-19 vaccines.

“這也不應否定全球研發新冠疫苗的努力。”

"It is to be expected that the virus will naturally mutate over time."

“可以預料，隨着時間的推移，病毒會自然變異。

Dr Jeffrey Barrett, senior scientific consultant for the Covid-19 genome project at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "Given the number of global infections to date, seeing one case of reinfection is not that surprising even if it is a very rare occurrence.

威康桑格研究所新冠病毒基因組項目高級科學顧問傑弗裏·巴雷特博士說：“考慮到迄今全球感染病例的數量，看到一例二次感染並不那麼令人驚訝，儘管這種情況非常罕見。”

"It may be that second infections, when they do occur, are not serious - though we don't know whether this person was infectious during their second episode."

他說：“可能第二次感染髮生時並不嚴重，不過我們不知道這個人在第二次感染時是否具有傳染性。

Prof Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said more information about this and other cases of reinfection was needed "before we can really understand the implications".

東安格利亞大學的保羅·亨特教授說，“在我們真正理解其影響之前”，需要更多關於這個病例和其他二次感染病例的信息。