Here is the latest from our team in @NatureMedicine
Should you protect yourself from Covid-19 reinfection
Yes!
Reinfection is not benign; it is best to avoid it
by @BCBowe @Biostayan @zalaly
A thread 🧵
nature.com/articles/s4159…
In this study of 5.8 million people
41k with reinfection
444k with 1 infection (no reinfection)
5.3 million non-infected controls
Compared to no reinfection, reinfection increased risk of death, hospitalization, and other adverse health outcomes
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Compared to people who did not get reinfection, those with reinfection had
2 fold increased risk of death
3 fold increased risk of hospitalization
3 fold increased risk of heart problems
3 fold increased risk of blood clotting
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Reinfection also increased risk of
Diabetes
Fatigue
Kidney problems
Mental health disorders
Musculoskeletal problems
Neurologic disorders
Lung problems
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Reinfection was associated with adverse health outcomes in
unvaccinated
those who had 1 vaccine shot
those who had 2+ vaccine shots
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Importantly,
Reinfection increased the risks of death, hospitalization and organ injury in the acute and post-acute phase
and
the elevated risks remained evident at 6 months after reinfection
Reinfection increases the risk of acute and #LongCovid
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Compared to noninfected controls, cumulative risks of repeat infection increased according to the number of infections
Every reinfection contributes additional risk
3 infections worse than 2
2 infections worse than 1
1 infection worse than none
nature.com/articles/s4159…
For the half a billion people who had #COVID19 once, the question of whether a second infection carries additional risks is important
We show that reinfection increases risks of adverse outcomes in acute and post-acute phases of COVID-19
nature.com/articles/s4159…
What does this mean for you?
If you have Covid once, twice, three or more times,
and
even if you are vaccinated and boosted
It is absolutely worth it to protect yourself from getting covid again
nature.com/articles/s4159…
What are the broader implications?
Reinfection will add to the pandemic's high and growing toll of death, disease, and disability
Prevention of infection and reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 should continue to be the goal of public health policy
nature.com/articles/s4159…
How do we move forward?
Reinfections are not benign and will continue to happen until
We have vaccines that
a. block transmission
b. offer durable protection
c. variant proof
We also need prevention and treatment strategies for #LongCovid
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Thanks to the amazing @sourwine for developing this press release (link below).
A clear accounting of the findings.
@WUSTLnews
@WUSTLmed
medicine.wustl.edu/news/repeat-co…
Thanks to our reviewers, editors, and all those who supported us in this project.
@WUSTL
@WUSTLmed
@WUSTLnews
@VREFSTL
@sourwine
@VAResearch
@vahsrd
nature.com/articles/s4159…
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