Among thousands of U.S. patients who recovered from severe COVID-19 infections, less than 1% contracted the illness again, according to a recent study by the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care. Researchers found that the ones who did become reinfected showed an average reinfection time of 3.5 months after an initial positive test.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 9,119 COVID-19 patients at 62 health facilities in the U.S. Only 0.7% of patients with severe COVID-19 infection contracted the virus a second time. Researchers also noted that the chance of reinfection was greater for nonwhite patients than for white patients.
“Our analysis also found asthma and nicotine dependence were associated with reinfection,” said lead researcher Dr. Adnan I. Qureshi, 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.”
SOURCE: University of Missouri School of Medicine June 15, 2021