Reinfections with Covid-19 Can Increase The Possibility of New Health Problems
According to the first study of the health risks associated with reinfection, repeated exposure to Covid-19 may increase the likelihood that someone will experience new and sometimes permanent health problems.
Based on more than a 5.6million people who were treated at the VA Health System, the study found that those with multiple documented Covid-19 infections had a higher risk of death and were more likely to be admitted within six months. These people also were more likely to have lung and heart problems, fatigue and digestive and kidney disorders, as well as neurologic and neurological problems.
These findings are coming as new coronavirus variants such as Omicron’s BA.5 have emerged in Europe and the United States, leading to an increase in hospitalizations and cases. According to data published Tuesday by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.5 was responsible for approximately 54% of all cases in the United States last week. This is nearly double the amount of Covid-19 transmission it has experienced over the past two weeks.
BA.5 is susceptible to reinfection due to key mutations.
The research was led by Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly at Washington University in St. Louis. It was published before peer review. After seeing reinfections becoming more frequent in his patients, he said he decided to do the research.
Al-Aly stated, “If you asked about reinfection, maybe a year ago, I would say that maybe there was a patient here or somewhere else, but it’s really, very rare.” However, this is no longer true.
So we asked the simple question: “If you have had Covid before, and you now have your second infection, does that really increase risk?” The simple answer is yes.
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