Seminole County man describes catching COVID-19 twice

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health says they’re keeping track of people who have caught the coronavirus twice.

Jacob Langston is one of those unlucky people.

Despite studies that show the antibodies the immune system builds to fight off the virus typically last around six to eight months, the Seminole County man says he was re-infected just four months after he first had it.

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“Quarantine number two...The second time, yes, I did get multiple tests, and those all came back positive,” Langston recalls.

Langston was first infected in July  after a family trip to North Carolina.

“I think I wore one of those neck gaiters as my mask,” Langston says. “That was before some of the science came out on those and I’m not sure if that’s where that came from.” Langston says he started feeling a sore throat during the trip, and got tested on July 14 after returning home.

“That’s my first positive.”

Langston says he quarantined, fought off the virus and tested negative days later.

After that, he says he didn’t let his guard down even though he’d already caught the virus.

“I was mostly working from home,” Langston says. “Only time we really went out was, you know, grocery store, errands, things like that.”

Then, in late November, Langston says he started experiencing symptoms again.

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“Kind of achy, maybe some phlegm kind of...So I was like, I’ll go take a test just in case.”

That second test came back positive three different times.

“I’ve not known anybody to get it twice,” Langston says. “I guess there’s people out there. It’s not super common.”

Langston says his second experience with the virus was worse than the first. He lost his senses of taste and smell and complained of headaches and body pains.

Dr. Fredrick Southwick of UF Health says Langston’s appears to be a true case of a reinfection in a COVID-19 patient who’d previously tested negative.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says reinfections are uncommon within 90 days.

In Langston’s case, his second infection came 137 days after his first.

Dr. Southwick says most reinfections occur among people who had a mild case of COVID-19 their first time around, as Langston did.

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“We know that with mild cases that the level of antibody and cell made immunity is relatively low,” Dr. Southwick explains.

Langston now says he’s feeling much better, and although reinfection is rare, he’s urging others to stay vigilant.

“It’s real, you know. Take it seriously.”

Cox Media Group