An 89-year-old Dutch woman has died after being infected with coronavirus for the second time, a group of Dutch experts say in an academic paper, published by Oxford University Press.

Her case is said to be the first death following a second infection with the virus. The victim was suffering from Waldenström, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, and her immune system was compromised.

The patient first tested positive for coronavirus after reporting to a hospital in the south of the country earlier this year, and was released after five days.

Two months later she began a new round of chemotherapy. Two days into the treatment she again had a temperature, a cough and became short of breath. A second coronavirus test also proved positive, and she was negative for antibodies in her blood. She died after three weeks.

There have been 23 reported cases of second coronavirus infections, and in most cases the second infection was less serious than the first.

The scientists involved in investigating this case say that given the dna of the virus, ‘it is likely that the second episode was a reinfection rather than prolonged shedding’.