Covid reinfection: how likely are you to catch virus multiple times?
Reinfection figures generally tend to refer to the detection of a second, or subsequent, Covid infection, regardless of the variant involved. The danger of reinfection is probable to depend upon a variety of things: for example, data suggests it is higher in unvaccinated people and potentially in the ones whose preceding infection was mild with a decreased immune response. It also depends on the variant: one expert said the risk of reinfection with Omicron soon after a first Omicron infection could be decreased than Delta followed by Omicron, and the way long ago a person was vaccinated. Experts say the dose to which a person is exposed may also be important. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) makes use of the definition of probable reinfection as a case 90 days or more after a preceding confirmed Covid contamination, in component as it excludes individuals who in reality shed the virus for longer after contamination.
According to the latest figures for England from the UKHSA, from the beginning of the pandemic up to 1 April this year there have been 890,575 possible reinfections, of which more than 10,000 have been 1/3 episodes. Very few possible reinfections are “shown” as that calls for genetic sequencing. What’s extra, with few people in the community gaining access to assessments in the first wave, many first infections might not had been counted.
“With the combination of being years into the pandemic, a few rounds of antibody waning, major waves of immune evasion by Delta and then Omicron, there’s fairly rampant reinfection,” stated Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London. According to scientists at Imperial College London, after taking into account a number of things Omicron turned into related to someplace among a 4.38 and 6.63-fold higher risk of reinfection, as compared with Delta. The team adds that this indicates safety in opposition to catching Covid springing up from preceding contamination within the past six months has fallen from approximately 85% before Omicron grew to become as much as someplace among 0% and 27%. The drop isn't unexpected for the reason that Omicron has been located to have the ability to dodge the body’s immune responses to a huge degree.
