COVID-19 reinfection is rare and serious illness is even rarer – CBS Miami

Miami (CNN) — When re-infected with COVID-19, the chances of being hospitalized or dying were 90% lower than with the first COVID-19 infection. New research.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday found few confirmed reinfections among 353,326 people infected with COVID-19 in Qatar, with reinfections being rare and generally mild.

read more: Florida will be ranked first in CDC Thanksgiving Week COVID-19 Death Prediction

The first wave of infection in Qatar occurred between March and June 2020. Eventually about 40% of the population had detectable antibodies against COVID-19. Then, from January to May 2021, there were two more waves in the country. This was before the more infectious delta variant.

To determine the number of re-infected individuals, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar scientists compared the records of infected individuals confirmed by PCR from February 2020 to April 2021. We excluded 87,547 vaccinated people.

Researchers found that there were 1,304 reinfections in the remaining cases. The median time from initial illness to reinfection was approximately 9 months.

Of the re-infected patients, only four were so severe that they had to go to the hospital. No one was so ill that people needed to be treated in the intensive care unit. In early cases, 28 was considered critical. There were no deaths in the re-infected group, but seven people died in the first infection.

John Archon, an immunology expert and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh who is not involved in the study, said:

There are limits to this research. Since it was done in Qatar, it is not clear if the virus behaves the same everywhere else. This work was done when the alpha and beta variants caused many reinfections. There were 621 unconfirmed cases and 213 cases of “wild-type” virus. There was no mention of the currently predominant strain, the delta mutant. It can affect the number of reinfections.

Early research It shows that innate immunity reduces the risk of infection. One study According to what was done in Denmark announced in March, most people who had COVID-19 seemed to have stable reinfection protection for more than 6 months, but those who were re-infected Demographic checks showed that it was mostly people over the age of 65. The study did not reveal how long the protection lasted, nor did the new Qatar study.

Archon’s own studies of innate immunity show that antibody levels also vary greatly from person to person. Scientists still don’t know what level of antibody is protective, but in some cases post-infection levels may not be enough to prevent someone from getting sick again.

read more: Florida COVID-19 Top 1,400 Hospitalizations

“It is necessary to determine whether such protection against serious illness during reinfection lasts longer, as does the immunity that occurs against other seasonal” cold “coronaviruses. For more serious illnesses with reinfection, “the study said. “If this is the case for SARS-CoV-2, the virus (or at least the variants studied so far) may adopt a benign infection pattern when it becomes endemic.”

Dr. Kami Kim, an infectious disease specialist who is not involved in this study, said care must be taken not to give the false impression that if you are infected with COVID you do not need to be vaccinated. -19.

It’s like asking, “Do you need airbags and seat belts?” Kim, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine at the University of South Florida, said. “Having an airbag doesn’t mean that the seat belt is useless. And vice versa. It’s good to protect both.”

Kim said it wasn’t worth the chance with the disease, especially as infections can have long-term consequences. “The incidence of long covids is much higher than the risk of getting a vaccine,” Kim said.

Vaccination not only protects individuals from illness, but also protects the community.

“Modern medicine is much better, people get cancer, survive, suffer from autoimmune diseases, and thrive. Always know who is more susceptible to more serious illness unless you are very close. If you get sick and expose them, you can literally endanger the people you care about, “Kim said. “Without vaccination, you cannot return to normal life.”

Limiting the number of diseases also limits the likelihood of more variants occurring. Subspecies can be even more dangerous than those currently in circulation.

Archon said there is another important lesson from this study.

“Vaccines are the best way to get to the same place where these infected people are absolutely,” said Archon. “The main point from this study here is that there is hope that everyone will reach some level of protection through vaccination and recovery from infection.”

Other news: Are you considering a COVID vaccine booster?Here are some answers about what to expect from that third dose

(© 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.)