According to a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine on the 10th, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the St. Louis Department of Veterans Affairs have found that repeated infections with the new coronavirus can lead to adverse health conditions in multiple organ systems. Risk increases significantly.
Consequences of re-infection with the new coronavirus include hospitalization, susceptibility to lung, heart, blood, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes, kidney disease and mental health problems, and even death.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have learned that the initial infection can cause short- or long-term health risks, affecting nearly every organ system in the body. They also determined that despite the acquisition of natural antibodies, vaccinations and boosters after the first infection, it is still possible for people to become infected with the new coronavirus again or a third time.
"Our study clearly shows that a second, third or fourth infection occurs during the acute phase, 30 days after infection," said Ziad Al-Ali, MD, a clinical epidemiologist at the School of Medicine and senior author of the paper. , and increased health risks in the months that follow, which means a longer phase of Covid-19 infection.
In addition, research shows that this risk also appears to increase with each infection.
For the study, they analyzed some 5.8 million anonymized medical records in a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the largest integrated health care system in the United States. Patients represented different ages, races and genders.
Overall, people who were reinfected were twice as likely to die and three times more likely to be hospitalized than people who didn't get reinfected with the virus.
In addition, compared to patients who had been infected with the virus once, those who were re-infected were 3.5 times more likely to develop lung problems, 3 times more likely to have heart disease, and 1.6 times more likely to have brain disease times.
"People should do their best to prevent re-infection, for example, get a booster shot of the new crown vaccine if they are eligible," Al-Ali said. "Into the winter, the public should be more vigilant and reduce the risk of infection or re-infection with the new crown virus."
