How soon can I be infected with COVID again after the initial infection? – NBC Chicago

How long after being infected with COVID-19 is protected by the antibody and when can it be infected again with the virus?

Questions have been asked in the last two years, but the answers have changed as new variants have been discovered and the latest findings have been revealed.

For example, the Omicron variant has made a big difference in “innate immunity”, making it easier for many previously infected people to re-infect the new version of the virus.

Today, Omicron constitutes almost all US COVID cases, so the question is how protection from one version of Omicron works for new subvariants.

“Initially, dating back to February, I was very confident that if I had already been infected with COVID, 90% would not have been re-infected,” said Chicago Public Health Commissioner. Dr. Allison said. Arwadi said last month. “It has fallen a bit all over the world.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “after recovering from COVID, most people will receive some protection from repeated infections.”

“But reinfection occurs after COVID-19,” the CDC said, adding that changes and mutations “may lead to the emergence of mutations that may increase the risk of reinfection.” ..

Last month, a top Chicago doctor said experts saw the change in immunity from infection and realized that more breakthrough infections and innate immunity did not persist.

“So we know that when someone gets infected with COVID, it’s in a sense as important as how recently they got infected.” But as Omicron continues to evolve, Even in December, more and more people had the original Omicron and are getting some of these new Omicron subvariants. “

BA.4 and BA.5 are subvariants of the Omicron COVID variant, or “sublineage”, and CDC also includes BA.2.12.1, BA.2, B.1.1.529, BA1.1, etc. I’m tracking.

In the Midwest, BA.5 accounts for 8.1% of cases and BA.4 accounts for 6.5%.

And while BA.2.12.1 still accounts for the majority of cases across the country, and in Illinois and Chicago, Dr. Ashishger, COVID-19 Coordinator of the White House. Told to NBC News BA.4 and BA.5 may dominate the United States by late summer or early fall.

In addition to being more contagious than previous variants, scientists are tracking mutations in BA.4 and BA.5, which can evade immunity and cause reinfection.

Due to a pandemic past-reminiscent genetic feature known as the “delta mutation,” the BA.2.12.1 subvariant can escape existing immunity from vaccination and previous infections, especially when infected with Omicron. It seems that you can. Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at the Houston Methodist in Texas, said. That’s because the original Omicron strain that swept the world wasn’t mutated.

Genetic changes are also found in Omicron’s relatives BA.4 and BA.5. They have exactly the same mutations as Delta, but BA.2.12.1 has almost the same.

This genetic change is bad news for those who have captured the original Omicron and thought it was unlikely that they would soon be infected with COVID again.

Most people aren’t sure which variant caused the disease, but the original Omicron caused a huge wave of cases from late last year to early this year.

For a long time, laboratory data suggest that previous infections with the original Omicron are less protective against reinfection with new mutants, but mutants are specific to everyone and the situation. Even so, there is no real risk of reinfection.

According to Chicago data, reinfections accounted for about 10% of new COVID cases last week and have increased over the last few months, but most recent reinfections have occurred in residents infected with COVID before the Omicron wave. Health officials said it was.

But with a twist, people who were previously ill with Delta may have some additional armor to get rid of the new mutants. A study COVID patients receiving intensive treatment for delta infection, released prior to review by other scientists by researchers at Ohio State University, neutralize newer variants than those who captured the original Omicron. It was found to induce excellent antibodies in.

“In Ohio, research author Shan Lu Liu, who co-directs the virus and new pathogen program in Ohio, said,” In Ohio, Ohio, Omicron-infected antibodies are resistant to submutants compared to Delta. It doesn’t seem to be well protected. “

However, Liu said the level of protection provided by the Delta infection depends in part on when someone was ill. That is because the immune system weakens over time.

People who became ill with Delta should not consider themselves vulnerable to new subvariants, especially if they are not vaccinated, Long said. “Not everyone says it’s safe.”

A Recent studies from northwestern medicine Many so-called COVID “long-distance carriers” have shown that they continue to experience symptoms such as brain fog, tingling, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, and malaise 15 months after the onset of the virus. rice field.

A “long-distance carrier” is defined as an individual who has had COVID symptoms for at least 6 weeks. Hospital system said..

However, according to the CDC, four weeks after infection was the first time the post-COVID status could be identified.

“Most people with post-COVID status experienced symptoms when they learned that they were infected with COVID-19 a few days after SARS CoV-2 infection, but some people with post-COVID status Some people didn’t notice it when they first got infected, “says the CDC.

Symptoms of Long-COVID can extend to a variety of illnesses, some of which may disappear and even relapse later.

“Post-COVID conditions do not affect everyone in the same way. People with post-COVID conditions may experience health problems due to a combination of different types and symptoms that occur over different periods of time. There is, “CDC reports. “Most patients’ symptoms improve slowly over time, but for some people, the post-COVID condition can last months or even years after the COVID-19 illness. , Sometimes can cause disability. “

According to experts, PCR tests can “keep positive for some time”, which can make testing difficult for such groups as well.

“These PCR tests are very sensitive,” Arwady said. “They keep picking up dead virus in their noses for weeks, but they can’t propagate the virus in the lab. They can’t spread, but they can be positive.”

according to CDCSome people infected with COVID can detect the virus for up to 3 months, but that does not mean they are contagious.

Public health officials recommend keeping up-to-date with vaccinations and boosters, even for people infected with COVID.

“In reality, this is a guess, but given that there are still no signs that the COVID mutation has stopped, we are heading … we need to prevent it from turning into hospitalization or death. In fact, I’m already pretty good at vaccines and treatments. ” “But in the fall, I think it’s likely that you’ll see an updated version of the booster that was actually modified to better protect against the way COVID mutated afterwards.”