The mysterious case of Jon Rahm: second positive in two months

Jon Rahm has run out of Olympics. A dream for the Spanish champion who dreamed of the medal just when Golf had just entered the Olympic disciplines. And that although reinfections are common, not so soon.

As explained by Dr. Yvelise Barrios, member of the Spanish Immunology Society (SEI), “COVID-19 reinfections, today, are absolutely anecdotal. Why To show that there has been a reinfection, the first thing we have to do is show that the people who have suffered the first infection have been cured, and that the second infection is different from the first. Often cases of reinfections are actually reactivations of the same infection that has not been cured properly”.

These reinfections that are caused by a different coronavirus strain from the one that caused the first infection, and that are usually characterized by a milder manifestation. “There are fewer reinfections than are spread because many of these cases are not adequately established. But, in the cases that have been demonstrated, almost all the patients have a much milder clinical picture, and this is an important aspect because it is clear that the immune system remembers the first encounter with the pathogen and is capable of developing more effective defenses, “he says. the SEI expert.

Lifetime antibodies

A study published in the prestigious journal ‘Nature’ determines that subjects who have suffered COVID-19 could have developed, for life, antibodies (body defenses) against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. According to the study published in ‘Nature’, after passing COVID-19 in a moderate way, the serum or blood antibodies that have been generated begin to disappear 4 months after infection, although they are still detectable after almost 1 year. Instead, the so-called long-lived bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs) stand as a persistent and essential source of protective antibodies, also when fighting COVID-19.

Despite the fact that the cases of reinfection in patients who have managed to overcome Covid-19 are very small, they do exist. A recent study Developed by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine (United States) and the MU Health Care Institute, it has analyzed 9,119 serious cases of Covid-19 that had already overcome the disease. Of these, 63 were re-infected which means a rate below 1%. “The important message here is that reinfection by Covid-19 after an initial case is possible, and the duration of immunity that an initial infection provides is not completely clear.”

Rahm’s story with positives: “Not again”

Rahm was vaccinated a half month ago, in June. With a bizarre history with the complete guideline and protocols of the PGA Tour. Rahm then explained that he received the COVID-19 vaccine prior to the United States Memorial Tournament, was still within the 14-day window after the injection, and therefore was not considered fully vaccinated. As a result, he was not exempt from the PGA Tour contact tracing protocols and was asked to be tested daily after being in close contact with someone who contracted the virus.

After five days of negative testing, Rahm tested positive on the Saturday of the tournament while maintaining a 6-stroke lead at Muirfield Village.. He was informed on leaving the green that he would be forced to withdraw from the tournament.

Rahm said then that he had another test afterwards that was also positive, and he was allowed to return to his home in Arizona via air ambulance. and he was forced to isolate himself. He was allowed out of isolation once he had two negative tests, taken at least 24 hours apart. His first negative test was on June 8.

“I was a little scared because even though I felt fine, I didn’t want to give the virus to anyone in my house,” Rahm said. “I didn’t want to possibly give it to our son. I think the hardest part of all this was for a little over 10 days without even being able to spend time with my little one. Also, my parents came to town, they couldn’t be around them. … I was not there when my parents met my son, and I had not seen my parents in over a year, almost a year and a half. ”Her son was born in April, so he is extremely vulnerable.

“Those are the difficult parts of this virus in life. Whatever happens on the golf course was absolutely secondary in my mind. For anyone wondering what was going through my mind, all of that was happening because my parents landed on Monday, Tuesday they met my son, and I was not there. That was really, really a difficult thing. ”

Rahm already went through a similar situation before the Olympics

Rahm said he supported the PGA Tour rules about players in his situation. “I’ve heard a lot of different theories: I should have played alone; I shouldn’t have, that’s silly,” he said. “The rules are there and it’s clear. I’m not going to lie, I was fully aware when I was in the tracking protocol that this was a possibility.. I knew that could happen. I hoped it was not so. I was playing like I wasn’t going to do it, but I support what the PGA Tour did. They could possibly have handled it a little better, but they did what they had to do. ”

Rahm was referring to being notified just off the 18th green that he had tested positive. It was similar to being told last July at the same tournament that he had committed a rule violation that would add a penalty stroke to his scorecard. He still won the tournament. “That’s the second time I’ve been targeted on national television on the same golf course on the same hole,” he said. “For all those people who wonder when I said, ‘Not again’, that’s exactly what I mean: Not again. “