▲ Medical staff are disinfecting at the screening clinic at the Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul on the afternoon of the 4th, when the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased. (Newsis)
People reinfected with COVID-19 in the United States are at higher risk of developing health problems, a study has found.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the US on the 6th (local time), a research team led by Professor Ziyad R. Ally at Washington University in St. Louis published the results of the study that repeated infections with COVID-19 increase the likelihood of persistent health problems after infection. announced on
The study was based on medical records of 5.6 million patients with COVID-19 treatment experience registered with the U.S. Veterans’ Health System.
The research team compared medical records by setting 250,000 people infected with COVID-19 once, 38,000 people infected twice or more, and 5.3 million people who had never been infected with COVID-19 as control groups. Among the reinfected patients, 36,000 were infected twice, 2,200 were infected the third time, and 246 were infected the fourth time.
The study found that among patients who had had two or more cases of COVID-19, the risk of dying within six months was more than double and the chance of being hospitalized was three times higher than those of patients who had contracted the virus once.
In particular, compared with a single infection, patients with re-infection with COVID-19 are more likely to have lung and heart problems, and have a greater risk of fatigue, digestive/kidney (kidney) disorders, diabetes, and neurological diseases. The reinfected patients were newly diagnosed with chest pain, abnormal heartbeat, heart attack, myocardial and pericarditis, heart failure, and blood clots.
According to the research team, new symptoms were most likely to occur immediately after reinfection. Some symptoms persisted for more than 6 months. After reinfection, the incidence of new symptoms increased regardless of whether or not vaccinated, and increased in proportion to the number of reinfections.
“If you’ve been infected with COVID-19 before, you think your immune system can be trained to recognize it and fight it off, but that may not happen if you’re actually re-infected,” said Professor Al Ally. “It shows that infection in the world brings new risks, and that risk accumulates over time.”
However, the WSJ pointed out that the study was mainly conducted on older people. “For example, if you’re a healthy 18-year-old, it’s unlikely that re-infection will significantly increase your health risk in the same way as older adults with health problems,” said Amesh Adalja, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Safety. It is also possible that recovery after a previous infection or immunity gained from vaccination may reduce the severity of reinfection, the media reported.
