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How long can you be protected from a single infection with SARS-CoV-2?

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Jerry Carter

SARS-CoV-2, which infects people via the respiratory tract most of the time, is responsible for causing harm to the respiratory system as well as to a variety of organs throughout the body. Since the initial outbreak in late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has had a substantially detrimental effect on the economy and society of the globe. This damage has continued to this day.

 

As a result of the widespread pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, new viral mutant strains are appearing, such as Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron. Some of these strains have a higher potential for infectiousness, while others have a higher capacity for immune evasion. To avoid contracting SARS-CoV-2, which may lead to serious disease and even death, it is essential to have a solid understanding of the virus's many subtypes.

 

On February 16, 2023, the authoritative journal The Lancet published a systematic review entitled "Past SARS-CoV-2 infection protection against re-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis". According to the findings of the research, the duration of protection against severe illness and fatalities after a single infection with SARS-CoV-2 persisted for at least ten months, with a risk reduction of up to 90 percent.

 

Although protection from past infections diminishes over time, the level of protection against reinfection, symptom level, and severe disease appears to be at least as durable as, if not greater than, the level of protection provided by 2 doses of mRNA vaccine.

 

In the study, researchers systematically reviewed and analyzed 65 studies from 19 different countries that used multiple methods to determine past infection symptoms, variants, time since infection, and protective effects over time. These studies came from a variety of fields, including epidemiology, clinical medicine, and public health. In the research, the protective effects of previous infections on future reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, infection symptoms, and rates of severe disease were investigated and analyzed.

 

For reinfection, the protective effect of infection with early strains against reinfection was high in all cases, with the average estimate of the protective effect of infection with early strains against reinfection with the original strain, Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants being greater than 82%. In contrast, infection with early strains was much less protective against Omicron BA.1 reinfection, with a combined effectiveness of only 45.3% and an overall effectiveness of 44% against symptomatic BA.1 disease.

 

Protection against reinfection reduced with time for the original strain, Alpha, and Delta variants, but maintained at 78.6% after 40 weeks. By 40 weeks, it was estimated that the BA.1 variant's protection against reinfection had decreased to 36.1%.

 

After 40 weeks, the original strain, Alpha, and Delta variants provided 78.4% protection against symptomatic disease, whereas BA.1 provided 37% protection against symptomatic disease.

 

Significantly, protection against severe disease was substantial for all variations at 40 weeks, with 90.2% for the original strain, Alpha, and Delta variants, and 88.8% for BA.1.

 

Although the protection from past infections wanes over time, the level of protection against reinfection, symptom levels and severe illness appears to be at least as durable as, if not greater than, the level of protection provided by 2 doses of mRNA vaccine, the researchers said.

 

Given the danger of catching SARS-CoV-2, particularly in unprotected people, the researchers emphasized that vaccination is the best method of gaining protection.

 

Earlier studies also agreed with the study's conclusion that infection creates immunity through both humoral and cellular responses, including a variety of T cell immunity and memory B cell responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spinosin antigen. This could lead to longer-lasting immunity and better protection against different variants. When compared to other variants, the BA.1 variant and its sub-lineage crossover variants have weaker immunity. This shows that spike-in protein mutations have an effect on Omicron evasion immunity.

 

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Jerry Carter
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