"The ongoing risk of infection and subsequent acute and chronic illness is not negligible. The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to circulate with evolving variants of concern .... with each SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, the risk of developing [Long Covid] is cumulative. That means two infections carry a greater risk than one infection and the risk after three infections is larger than after two infections. As of June 20234, two out of three Canadians had at least on COVID-19 infection and one in five Canadians had been infected multiple times."
Reinfections + Cumulative Damage
Dealing with the Fallout: Office of Chief Science Advisor of Canada
MSK Library Guides: COVID Impacts: Cumulative Risks of Long COVID
Detailed information and resources on the long-term health consequences of COVID-19 infection and the broad social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection - Nature Medicine
People who had a reinfection with COVID-19 faced a higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those who didn't get reinfected. The risk was more than twice as high. They also had a higher chance of being hospitalized and experiencing long-term health issues related to the virus. Specifically, they were 3 times more likely to be hospitalized and over twice as likely to experience lasting symptoms, like those from long COVID.
Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death | WashU Medicine
Researchers recommend masks, vaccines, vigilance to prevent reinfection
Beyond long COVID — how reinfections [are] causing silent long-term organ damage
"There is no such thing as a COVID infection without consequence," says long COVID researcher, David Putrino, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
How Risky Are Repeat COVID Infections? What We Know So Far | Scientif…
“Every time you get infected [with COVID], it does harm to the body in some way,” says Avindra Nath, a neurologist at the National Institutes of Health who has led research on long COVID and other post-viral conditions.
Understanding Cumulative Risk
"Two years ago, one of us made a prediction in Fortune Magazine that a few years of ‘learning to live with’ COVID (i.e., pretending it doesn’t exist) would lead to a billion cases of Long COVID. A recent estimate pegs the total incidence so far at 400 million cases of Long COVID. Long COVID is well on its way to becoming the world’s most common disease."
Study suggests reinfections from the virus that causes COVID-19
NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections.
The risk of Long COVID, explained
The question has been asked over and over again: what is the risk of Long COVID and how does that risk increase with each infection? Let's break down the science and get to know this invader that is making a host out of us.
Every COVID Infection Increases Your Risk of Long COVID, Study Warns
“Each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems,” physician Rambod Rouhbakhsh warned journalist Sara Berg in an American Medical Association podcast earlier this year.
“This dispels the myth that repeated brushes with the virus are mild and you don’t have to worry about it. It is akin to playing Russian roulette.”
Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection
Nature Medicine - A new analysis using US Department of Veterans Affairs databases showed that reinfection is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, hospitalization and a wide range...
Long COVID facts and findings: a large-scale online survey in 74,075 Chinese participants
An analysis of over 68,000 valid responses found that common long COVID symptoms include fatigue, memory decline, reduced exercise ability, and brain fog, with lower rates among individuals infected only once. Women were more prone to long COVID, and symptoms varied by age, except for sleep issues and muscle or joint pain, which were more frequent in older adults. Northern China showed higher prevalence, possibly due to colder temperatures. Risk factors included pre-existing conditions, alcohol use, smoking, and severe acute infection. While reinfection generally caused milder acute symptoms, it increased the likelihood and severity of long COVID. Vaccination, especially with multiple boosters, significantly reduced long-term symptoms. Additionally, COVID-19 patients reported more bacterial, flu, and mycoplasma infections, and 8–10% believed they developed chronic diseases due to the virus.
Study suggests reinfections virus causes covid 19 likely have similar severity original infection
Do Repeat COVID Infections Increase the Risk of Severe Disease or Lon…
It’s Really, Really Worth Trying to Avoid Getting COVID Multiple Times
The goal of the research was to determine whether the risk of complications goes up the more you’re infected with the virus, according to lead study author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, assistant professor at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “The answer is absolutely yes,” he tells SELF.
What Repeat COVID Infections Do to Your Body, According to Science
Yes, It’s Still Really Worth Avoiding COVID—Even If You’ve Already Had It a Few Times.
What doctors wish patients knew about COVID-19 reinfection
"We know from a pretty elegant study that was recently published in Nature Medicine that each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems."
Rising Risks with COVID Reinfection | Harvard Magazine
Assistant professor of medicine Amy Barczak shared a Nature study that used data from the Veteran’s Administration to assess the cumulative risk of post-infection effects in people with one, two, and three or more SARS-CoV-2 infections, as compared to noninfected controls. The data show a consistent pattern of increased likelihood of hospitalization, cardiovascular effects, clotting and other blood disorders, diabetes, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, kidney damage, mental health effects such as depression, musculoskeletal damage, neurological deficits, and pulmonary damage with each episode. Prior infection does not change the course of disease in subsequent infections, just the risk of severe complications.
Repeat COVID is riskier than first infection, study finds
Reinfected patients faced more than double the risk of death, over triple the risk of hospitalization, were three times more likely to develop lung problems, and had a 60% higher likelihood of developing neurological issues.