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COVID-19<\/a> continues to be a confusing medical mystery.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Tuesday, CNBC reported<\/a> that a 25-year-old\u00a0Nevada<\/a> man contracted the coronavirus on two separate occasions. This is the first reported case in the United States when a patient was re-infected with COVID-19 and only the fifth known case globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n To make matters more mysterious, the\u00a0Washoe County resident had no known\u00a0immune disorders or history of significant underlying conditions which normally makes a person more susceptible to the virus. Per\u00a0a study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the man’s second bout with COVID-19 took was more severe than the first time he fought the virus, leading to a hospital stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although he has since recovered, his multiple infections with the virus sparks concern about the possibility of becoming immune to the illness. Initially, it was assumed that the second coronavirus infection would be milder than the first. But, the Nevada man proved that this will not always be the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It means that it is possible to get reinfected, that\u2019s all it really tells us,”\u00a0associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading,\u00a0Dr. Simon Clarke, said when discussing the case with CNBC. “It doesn\u2019t tell us that protective immunity is impossible.\u00a0It is worth remembering that this might be just one of a very small handful of reinfections, it might be very rare, or it might be one of the very first few we are going to see a lot more of given time.”<\/p>\n Reports of second contractions in\u00a0Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Belgium were all less serious than the first bout. But one case in\u00a0Ecuador was similar to the Nevada case but it didn’t require hospitalization.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n