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COVID-19 reinfection rate less than 1 percent for those with severe illness, study finds

Two deaths were associated with reinfection, but most cases were mild

Date:
June 15, 2021
Source:
University of Missouri-Columbia
Summary:
A review of more than 9,000 US patients with severe COVID-19 infection showed less than 1 percent contracted the illness again, with an average reinfection time of 3.5 months after an initial positive test.
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A review of more than 9,000 U.S. patients with severe COVID-19 infection showed less than 1% contracted the illness again, with an average reinfection time of 3.5 months after an initial positive test. Those are the findings from a study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care.

The researchers teamed up with the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics and the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation to review data from 62 U.S. health care facilities. They found 63 of the 9,119 patients (0.7%) with severe COVID-19 infection contracted the virus a second time, with a mean reinfection period of 116 days. Of the 63 who were reinfected, two (3.2%) died. Patients categorized as non-white were at greater risk of reinfection than white patients.

"Our analysis also found asthma and nicotine dependence were associated with reinfection," said lead researcher Adnan I. Qureshi, MD, a professor of clinical neurology at the MU School of Medicine. "However, there was a significantly lower rate of pneumonia, heart failure and acute kidney injury observed with reinfection compared with primary infection."

Qureshi defined reinfection by two positive tests separated by an interval greater than 90 days after the initial infection resolved, as confirmed by two or more consecutive negative tests. He analyzed data from patients who received serial tests between December 2019 and November 2020.

"This is one of the largest studies of its kind in the U.S., and the important message here is that COVID-19 reinfection after an initial case is possible, and the duration of immunity that an initial infection provides is not completely clear," Qureshi said.

In addition to Qureshi, the study authors include fellow MU School of Medicine collaborators Iryna Lobanova, MD, research specialist in the Department of Neurology; S. Hasan Naqvi, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine; William Baskett, graduate student; Wei Huang, graduate student; and Chi-Ren Shyu, PhD, Director, MU Institute for Data Science and professor of Informatics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Missouri-Columbia. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Adnan I Qureshi, William I Baskett, Wei Huang, Iryna Lobanova, S Hasan Naqvi, Chi-Ren Shyu. Re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 in Patients Undergoing Serial Laboratory Testing. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2021; DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab345

Cite This Page:

University of Missouri-Columbia. "COVID-19 reinfection rate less than 1 percent for those with severe illness, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 June 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210615132103.htm>.
University of Missouri-Columbia. (2021, June 15). COVID-19 reinfection rate less than 1 percent for those with severe illness, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210615132103.htm
University of Missouri-Columbia. "COVID-19 reinfection rate less than 1 percent for those with severe illness, study finds." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210615132103.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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