A Russian doctor surrounded himself with coronavirus positive patients without wearing protective gear and repeated the experiment for months in order to explore the possibility of reinfection, Newsweek reported.

68-year-old, Alexander Chepurnov, conducted the experiment on himself as he met the criteria of high-risk people. Earlier, reports have suggested that people above 65, especially males, are most susceptible to contracting coronavirus.

Chepurnov’s controversial experiment led to his Covid-19 reinfection within six months from the first bout.

The researcher told Novosibirsk newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that he contracted the virus first time in March. He later developed antibodies after recuperating from the infection. Within six months, he again got infected with the virus after spending a considerable amount of time with coronavirus patients.

Chepurnov and his research team at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, examined the level of antibodies in the six months duration. They found that the antibodies vanished after three months.

He told the paper: “The observation [showed] a fairly rapid decrease. By the end of the third month from the onset of the disease, they ceased to be determined.”

Chepurnov added that his Covid-19 symptoms — loss of smell, pneumonia, and fever — were more pronounced during the reinfection.

This experiment is in line with earlier studies that have also suggested that the Covid-19 immunity can last for at least 5-7 months.