TUESDAY UPDATES: MU researchers find COVID-19 reinfection rate less than 1% for those with severe illness
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care showed that more than 9,000 U.S. patients with severe COVID-19 infection showed less than 1% contracted the illness again, with an average reinfection time of 3.5 months after an initial positive test.
The study reviewed data from 62 U.S. health care facilities and found 63 of the 9,119 patients (0.7%) with severe COVID-19 infection contracted the virus a second time.
“Our analysis also found asthma and nicotine dependence were associated with reinfection,” said lead researcher Adnan I. Qureshi, MD, a professor of clinical neurology at the MU School of Medicine. “However, there was a significantly lower rate of pneumonia, heart failure and acute kidney injury observed with reinfection compared with primary infection.”