How does reinfection impact long COVID? Here’s what we know so far. - Yahoo News

Experts are urging caution arsenic Americans stitchery indoors successful the precocious autumn and wintertime months, with COVID-19 cases already connected the rise up of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Now that most radical successful the U.S. person been infected astatine slightest erstwhile with COVID-19, immoderate complacency whitethorn beryllium mounting in; but adjacent if different circular of SARS-CoV-2 corruption whitethorn commencement to consciousness aged hat, experts pass that the anticipation of agelong COVID is inactive a menace Americans should beryllium wary of — adjacent if they’ve managed to debar agelong COVID successful the past.

What is agelong COVID?

There is nary azygous agreed-upon explanation of agelong COVID, oregon immoderate agreed-upon method for defining and diagnosing it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported successful June that astir 1 successful 5 Americans who had COVID-19 inactive person symptoms of agelong COVID, which the CDC defines arsenic symptoms lasting much than 3 months post-infection that were not contiguous earlier. Long COVID symptoms alteration — from respiratory and bosom symptoms, to neurological symptoms, to wide ailments specified arsenic fatigue oregon musculus aches — and the CDC says that portion agelong COVID is much communal successful radical who suffered a terrible bout of COVID-19, adjacent radical who experienced mild oregon asymptomatic cases tin endure from “post-COVID conditions.”

Dr. Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, main of infectious diseases astatine UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital, said determination are 3 types of patients helium sees astatine the hospital’s agelong COVID clinic: radical with lingering harm from a terrible lawsuit of COVID-19; radical with underlying illnesses that were exacerbated by COVID-19; and “what we deliberation of arsenic 'true' agelong COVID patients, that person aggregate symptoms for which we cannot presently find an nonsubjective cause.”

Ostrosky said the bully quality is that astir of the past class of agelong COVID patients amended connected their ain wrong 4 to six months.

“But determination are immoderate patients that we’ve been pursuing for a twelvemonth oregon a twelvemonth and a fractional that person not recovered. And that’s wherever we request much probe connected therapeutic options for them,” helium said.

What happens if you already person agelong COVID and get infected with COVID-19 again?

For those battling agelong COVID, Ostrosky said getting different corruption tin beryllium a immense blow.

“It’s beauteous devastating,” Ostrosky said of immoderate patients helium has seen with agelong COVID who get reinfected with SARS-CoV-2. “They whitethorn person been making a batch of headway with this four- to six-month betterment process, and past it’s a immense setback for them. Very demoralizing, precise disheartening for them erstwhile this happens.”

More probe is inactive needed connected however reinfection impacts those already suffering from agelong COVID, but self-reported cases tin supply immoderate insight. In a caller online survey conducted successful the United Kingdom, 80% of those who described themselves arsenic inactive having agelong COVID symptoms reported that different lawsuit of COVID-19 exacerbated their symptoms.

Of those who were successful betterment oregon remission from agelong COVID, reinfection recurred successful astir 60% of individuals; of those individuals, 40% said that the 2nd bout of agelong COVID was conscionable arsenic terrible arsenic the archetypal time, 32% said it was little terrible and 28% said it was much severe.

“It’s a beauteous wide scope of acquisition successful presumption of the severity of the 2nd bout of agelong COVID,” Dr. Jessica Justman, an subordinate prof of epidemiology astatine Columbia University, who was not progressive successful the survey, told Yahoo News. “The bottommost enactment was: If you person oregon antecedently had agelong COVID, getting an corruption again could marque you consciousness your agelong COVID has gotten worse oregon travel back. So it’s an further crushed to get vaccinated and instrumentality steps to minimize your exposures.”

If you haven’t had agelong COVID before, however mightiness a 2nd (or 3rd oregon fourth) COVID-19 corruption impact your chances of processing it?

The CDC says that symptoms from reinfection are apt to beryllium little terrible than the archetypal infection, but that “some radical tin acquisition much terrible COVID-19 during reinfection,” and that the assortment of variants circulating whitethorn mean that an idiosyncratic whitethorn not person arsenic overmuch immunity from a erstwhile corruption arsenic is typically the case.

So adjacent if you didn’t get agelong COVID the archetypal time, it’s inactive imaginable to make agelong COVID if you get reinfected with the virus.

“Past show doesn’t foretell aboriginal performance. You mightiness person had a truly mild lawsuit before, but you don’t person thing assured whether the adjacent lawsuit is going to beryllium arsenic mild oregon if it's going to beryllium much severe,” Ostrosky said.

“There’s besides truthful overmuch we don’t cognize astir what benignant of harm accumulates with repetition infections. So don’t fto your defender down.”

A study published past week utilizing information from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ nationalist wellness attraction database recovered that reinfection accrued the hazard of agelong COVID, arsenic good arsenic different adverse wellness outcomes, including a twofold accrued hazard of decease and a threefold accrued hazard of hospitalization compared to those who were not reinfected.

“Without ambiguity, our probe showed that getting an corruption a second, 3rd oregon 4th clip contributes to further wellness risks successful the acute phase, meaning the archetypal 30 days aft infection, and successful the months beyond, meaning the agelong COVID phase,” elder writer Ziyad Al-Aly said successful a property release.

The survey recovered that reinfection compounded risks of agelong COVID careless of whether participants were unvaccinated, vaccinated oregon boosted. In general, though, the interaction of vaccination presumption connected agelong COVID outcomes is inactive murky. Another study by the aforesaid authors recovered that those who received the COVID vaccine were lone 15% little apt to make agelong COVID than those who were unvaccinated, but the CDC says that radical who aren’t vaccinated whitethorn beryllium astatine higher hazard of processing “post-COVID conditions” than those who are vaccinated. Other studies person shown that those who received 2 doses of the COVID vaccine chopped their hazard of processing agelong COVID successful half.

“For radical that consciousness that ‘I’m not going to dice from COVID, it’s OK to get aggregate infections,’ this should truly beryllium an eye-opening survey that shows america that there’s inactive a batch to larn astir the semipermanent consequences of aggregate episodes of this infection,” Ostrosky said.

Justman pointed retired that portion the survey provides further reasons to instrumentality other attraction and enactment up to day connected vaccinations, the retrospective quality of the survey means that immoderate outcomes could person been missed. Because information connected the participants was collected retroactively alternatively of pursuing them successful existent time, the survey mightiness person missed immoderate participants who were reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 but were asymptomatic, oregon who tested affirmative for a mild lawsuit and didn’t question treatment. If specified cases had been decently counted, Justman said, that whitethorn person decreased the risks posed by reinfection.

“They did spot [what’s known as] a dose-response relationship,” Justman said. “Individuals who had 3 COVID infections had a higher hazard of these outcomes than radical who had 2 infections, and those with 2 infections had a higher hazard than radical who had conscionable one. And whenever you spot that benignant of dose-response relationship, it tells you that what you’re looking astatine mightiness beryllium real.”

What happens next?

While accusation connected agelong COVID and reinfection — and agelong COVID successful wide — is limited, a fig of studies are underway that could soon connection immoderate answers. The National Institutes of Health is moving connected a survey called Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) to larn much astir the semipermanent effects of COVID-19. The CDC is besides conducting a fig of studies with partners, including with Nova Southeastern University for a task called "COVID-19: Understanding the Post-Viral Phase (COVID-UPP)," connected patients who proceed to person symptoms much than 3 months aft infection.

“There’s going to beryllium tons of accusation coming out, truthful it’s benignant of a ‘Watch this space,’” Justman said. “It’s decidedly a enactment successful progress, but I deliberation what we’ve learned truthful acold would reenforce those aforesaid messages that everybody successful nationalist wellness keeps repeating implicit and implicit — which it feels similar the nationalist possibly doesn’t privation to perceive it anymore. It’s inactive important to instrumentality vantage of each the vaccines that you tin perchance avail [yourself] of, i.e. flu vaccine, COVID boosters. And if you’re successful a crowded indoor place, deliberation precise cautiously astir your COVID exposure, and effort to spot if you tin deterioration a disguise if astatine each possible.”