Study Finds Severity of Infection in COVID Patient Foreshadows Severity of Reinfections

A new study has found that “severe infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection.” NIH has the release.

Researchers focused on 212,984 people who reported a COVID reinfection. The individuals were initially infected “between March 1, 2020-Dec. 31, 2022, and experienced a second infection by March 2023.” About 27% of those patients with severe cases “also received hospital care for a reinfection” and about 87% of those “who had mild COVID cases that did not require hospital care the first time also had mild cases of reinfections.”

Reinfections were most frequent “when omicron variants were circulating in late 2021 and early 2022. Waning immunity and increased exposure to the coronavirus, including the highly-infectious variants, likely accounted for the uptick.”

In addition, long COVID was found to more often occur “after a first infection compared to a reinfection.” Researchers also noted that lower levels of albumin, “a protein made by the liver, may indicate a higher risk for reinfection,” and they stress that this issue may require further attention.