Dutch woman becomes first known person to die from COVID-19 reinfection
An 89-year-old woman in the Netherlands has become the first known person to die from catching COVID-19 twice, CNN reports. The woman notably had a compromised immune system due to therapy she was receiving for her rare bone marrow cancer, but researchers said her natural immune response still could have been "sufficient" enough to overcome the disease.
The woman was initially hospitalized for COVID-19 earlier this year, but released after five days with no symptoms except "some persisting fatigue." Fifty-nine days later, she once again tested positive for COVID-19, and no antibodies were detected in her blood; she died two weeks later.
The case is the first known in the world that a person has died after contracting COVID-19 for a second time. However, a number of people have now been confirmed to have contracted the disease more than once, leading to questions about the lasting endurance of immunity.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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