There was a time, not that long ago, that many public health officials believed the pandemic would end with the roll out of the vaccines, and that infection would become more and more rare until we reached herd immunity. With the onset of the Omicron variant, it became clear that the coronavirus is here to stay. We will have to live with it. A new seasonal illness with 2-4 waves a year and the likelihood of an annual or bi-annual infection.
What does this mean for your health long term? What are the consequences of reinfection?
A new article in the Journal Nature, published on April 26th, 2023 makes an attempt to gather all the information researchers have on the impact of reinfection. We att CVD Labs recommend you read it for yourself (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01371-9) but will do our best to highlight the key findings.
First, the good news. In most cases, research suggests your reinfection will be less severe than your first infection. You have a decreased risk of hospital admission and a decreased risk of death. Great!
Unfortunately, as you likely suspect, a second infection is worse than no second infection. Same with your third, fourth, fifth ect. In our lifetimes we can likely expect many infections. In one of the larger studies on reinfections, following 500,000 patients in the Veteran Administration: “People with repeat infections were twice as likely to die and three times as likely to be hospitalized, have heart problems or experience blood clots than were people who were infected only once. In a surprising twist, vaccination status didn’t seem to have an impact.”
Ultimately, we don’t know the full impact of reinfection, and the only way to know is for all of us to get reinfected and for researchers to study us. We here at CVD Labs don’t want to just sit and wait. CVD Labs believes there are proactive steps we can all take to reduce our infection risk, reduce the severity of disease and to aid recovery. The next wave and the next infection is coming. Prepare - Fight - Recover with CDV Labs.
