More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A student believed to have contracted Covid-19 twice within three months is now bedroom bound as she fears passing the infection onto vulnerable family members.
Jaycie Fry, of Gravesend, came down with severe stomach cramps and muscle pain back on October 19.
The 19-year-old didn't suspect it to be coronavirus at first as it was not consistent with the common symptoms but decided to book a test after experiencing a loss of smell.
After it returned positive, Jaycie said: "When it came back I was really shocked. We was all quite scared."
"I had some quite sharp pains to my stomach, then I completely lost my appetite," she added.
To double check it was not a false result the art student at the University for the Creative Art's Rochester campus got swabbed again with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, like the first, only to get the same result back.
Mum Julie Fry rang the coronavirus swab testing call centre on 119 to seek help following the second positive test and a deterioration in her daughter's condition.
The 49-year-old was told Jaycie should isolate from other family members, was prescribed a course of medication to help with the cramping, and advised to consult doctors or seek further medical help if she had any trouble breathing.
"I was really struggling the first time I had it," said Jaycie who later collapsed in the bathroom with the pain of the cramps.
But shortly after the teenager recovered with the help of the medicine.
"Everything went back to normal and then my sister went down with it one week," said Jaycie.
It was a real concern for the family as dad Christopher, a 66-year-old ice cream driver, suffered a heart attack in May and is now classed as a vulnerable person.
The family believes Isabel, the youngest of the three daughters aged 14, 17 and 19, may have picked up the infection after going back to school in November.
Jaycie said: "Because my dad is vulnerable I had another test because we didn't know if anyone of us was asymptomatic and we had to test again and I was negative."
With her family following suit Jaycie believed she was in the clear when on December 22 she came into contact with a possible Covid-19 case.
She started to feel fatigued and to be sure she had not picked up the virus for a second time went for another test. But was shocked to find she was positive again.
Jaycie works part time at Tapas Revolution at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe and when the restaurant was closed due to the lockdown she was sent for shifts in London and Lakeside, Essex over December.
The student believes she may have contracted it then after feeling run down but had put it down to her busy shift pattern at the time.
"I was feeling fine again by the time I did the test but I came back positive," she said.
'I was feeling fine again by the time I did the test but I came back positive...'
"I was tried with a bit of a headache," Jaycie added, but otherwise had no prevailing symptoms.
The student has since shut herself away in her bedroom to isolate for the recommended 10 days but this elapsed on Tuesday and she remains cautious about venturing out amid fears she could still be contagious. She communicated with her family on Christmas Day via video.
It's been an isolating experience for the teenager who has only seen friends on limited occasions since March and now says she feels "out of touch with the world".
Mum Julie Fry fears her daughter might not be able to produce antibodies to the virus or could have caught a new strain known to be prevalent in Kent.
She said: "Jaycie is terrified to come out of isolation as there is no advice whatsoever on how contagious you could be after a second infection.
"She is also, as are we, worried that she is not producing any antibodies. With her Dad being clinically vulnerable, we really are desperate.
"I don’t want my daughter to be scared and worried but know she wants to keep her dad and the rest of the family safe."
She added: "With the new strain being a serious situation in Kent, and just hearing that there is a new strain of the virus, how could we find out if this is the new strain she has contracted? "
The mum-of-three has been pressing health authorities for more help and advice but to no avail.
Reinfection reports are rare but health experts have not ruled out that those who have caught coronavirus once cannot become reinfected again.
Antibodies - blood proteins produced by the immune system to fight infections - are believed to be produced by the body two weeks after the virus's onset.
But it is understand immunity - much like with other diseases and coronavirus - may wane over time.
Nevertheless, knowledge of the virus grows daily and preliminary results from a Public Health England study into new variants produced some uplifting results.
In particular it found there was no "significant difference" in the liklihood of reinfection between variant cases.
And while there has also been concern over the supposed faster spread of the strain of Covid-19 found in Kent the preliminary results also indicated no noticeable difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between variant cases and so-called "wild-type" cases.
