Severity of COVID-19 Reinfection Linked to Severity of Initial Infection

THURSDAY, July 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The severity of COVID-19 reinfection seems to be associated with the severity of initial infection, according to a study published online July 11 in Communications Medicine.

Emily Hadley, from RTI International in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues characterized reinfection, examined the development of long COVID, and compared the severity of reinfection to that of original infection using an electronic health record study cohort of more than 3 million patients.

The researchers validated previous findings of reinfection incidence (6.9 percent), most reinfections occurring during the omicron epoch, and evidence of multiple reinfections. For infections in the same epoch, the proportion of long COVID diagnoses was higher following initial infection than reinfection. Lower albumin levels were reported leading up to reinfection, and a significant association was seen for severity between initial infection and reinfection, with a medium effect size. Compared with those who had mild initial infection and reinfection, individuals who experienced severe initial and first reinfection were older in age and had a higher mortality risk.

“This work validates existing characterization of reinfection as most common in the omicron epoch and contributes a novel characterization to the best of our knowledge of lower albumin levels after initial COVID-19 infection and leading up to reinfection,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text