By now, many people have had COVID-19 and even experienced it on multiple occasions. Over time, the fear surrounding these repeat infections has diminished, so you might be thinking that if you’ve already had it, you’re less likely to get it again or that if you do get it again, it won’t be as bad as the first time. While it may be tempting to assume that subsequent infections are less severe than the initial encounter, recent studies are showing that reinfections aren’t necessarily harmless. They can still happen, and they can be just as severe as the initial virus.
“There is some early evidence show[ing] that if you had COVID-19, there can be all sorts of problems after getting infected” and reinfected, Dr. Robert Murphy, professor of medicine and executive director of the Havey Institute for Global Health at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, recently told Time magazine. “We are just at the beginning of learning about them.”
Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis (he studies Long COVID, a condition marked by health effects that linger after infection), also shared why “Reinfection remains consequential.” His research, published in Nature Medicine in 2022, revealed that individuals who contracted COVID-19 more than once experienced a higher incidence of both short-term and long-term health issues. These effects included problems with the heart, lungs and brain, among others.
Why are we still vulnerable to COVID-19?
According to Dr. Faveu Smith, a virologist and head of infectious diseases at the University of California, San Diego, there are several factors that may contribute to this susceptibility to COVID-19. For instance, advanced age has been identified as a potential risk factor for complications after repeated infections. In addition, individuals may have unknown underlying health conditions, such as prediabetes or increased inflammation that could heighten their predisposition to adverse effects following each infection.
“For somebody who is already on the edge of developing diabetes and then gets COVID-19, that could damage the pancreas and the endocrine system enough to change things,” Smith says. By the same token, he explains how having high rates of inflammation before COVID-19 could raise the risk of heart events such as stroke or heart attack after an infection.
Doctors say it is also important to note that regardless of a person’s health status, every COVID-19 infection can increase the chances of getting blood clots, which can go to the brain or lungs. It’s why Smith thinks it’s important for anyone who can take antiviral drugs like Paxlovid to do so. Getting the virus under control as soon as possible can help minimize any lasting effects it might have on the body, but that’s challenging because many people no longer see COVID-19 as a big deal. They think, “You can get an acute infection with fever, cough, malaise and fatigue, get over it after a few days or a week or so, then bounce back, and it’s gone,” says Al-Aly. But “the data are showing that [some] people still display an increased risk of problems even two years after an infection.”
COVID ‘Hits Different’
Doctors still don’t know why SARS-CoV-2 has such a lasting effect on the body. They say that, normally, when our immune system encounters a new virus, it creates new defenses and remembers the intruder, giving us a head start if it comes back. This is true for SARS-CoV-2 too, which is why vaccines work for many individuals and reinfection usually leads to milder symptoms. But there’s also growing evidence that in some people, SARS-CoV-2 may weaken the immune response, making it less effective the next time they encounter the virus. This could leave certain organs, like the brain, weaker for months after each infection. Plus, the research shows that even vaccinated people can still get Long COVID, although the risk may be lower. This is because the protection provided by vaccines decreases over time, just as it does with natural infections.
The Final Takeaway
The consensus from the experts on multiple COVID-19 infections is clear: while hospitalizations are currently at their lowest level in four years, it’s unlikely the virus will completely disappear. Every time you get hit, it affects your body, so they recommend trying not to get it too many times. That means staying updated with vaccinations if preferred and taking basic precautions like wearing high-quality masks indoors, especially in crowded places and on public transportation.
