Reinfection;

Should patients with prior Covid receive Covid vaccine?

FA Manian MD, MPH, , , , , Leave a comment

Yes, as recommended by the CDC.  The weight of the evidence to date suggests that previously infected individuals should receive Covid vaccine to minimize their risk of acquiring Covid again for many reasons, including the following:

First, depending on the population and the variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the agent of Covid) studied, a significant proportion of infected individuals— from 5% to >35% based on some studies— fail to produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.1 In 1 study, lack of antibody production was associated with younger age, lower viral load and a trend toward milder symptoms.1

Second, the body of the evidence for infection-induced immunity is much more limited with less consistent findings than that for vaccine-induced immunity.2

Third, vaccination against Covid has been shown to enhance the immune response and reduce the risk of infection even in those with prior Covid.2 In fact, 1 study reported that the risk of reinfection is more than twice among those who were previously infected but not vaccinated compared to those who got vaccinated after having Covid.3  In another study, the risk of infection in adults was more than 5 times higher in unvaccinated but previously infected individuals compared to the vaccinated person who had not had an infection previously.4

Some authors5 who oppose routine vaccination of individuals previously infected with Covid have invoked a recent CDC study6 which showed that when Delta was the predominant strain, persons with prior Covid had lower rates of infection than persons who were vaccinated alone.  However, this study was performed when booster doses of Covid vaccine were not yet available to most people and before Omicron became the predominant variant. 

Bonus Pearl: Did you know that following Covid infection, neutralizing antibodies  have a biphasic decline with an initial half-life of 2-3 months followed by a slower decline thereafter?2

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References

  1. Liu W, Russell RM, Bibollet-Ruche F, et al. Predictors of nonseroconversion after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Emerg Infect Dis 2021;27:2454-58. Predictors of Nonseroconversion after SARS-CoV-2 Infection – Volume 27, Number 9—September 2021 – Emerging Infectious Diseases journal – CDC
  2. Science brief: SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced and vaccine-induced immunity. October 29, 2021. Science Brief: SARS-CoV-2 Infection-induced and Vaccine-induced Immunity | CDC
  3. Cavanaugh AM, Spicer KB, et al. Reduced risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 after Covid-9 vaccination-Kentucky, may-June 2021. MMWR 2021;70:1081-83. Reduced Risk of Reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 After COVID-19 Vaccination – Kentucky, May-June 2021 – PubMed (nih.gov)
  4. Laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 among adults hospitalized with Covid-19-like illness with infection-induced or mRNA vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 immunity—Nine states, January-September 2021. MMWR 2021;70:1539-44. Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Among Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19–Like Illness with Infection-Induced or mRNA Vaccine-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Immunity — Nine States, January–September 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov)
  5. Makary M. The high cost of disparaging natural immunity to Covid. Wall Street Journal. January 26, 2022. The High Cost of Disparaging Natural Immunity to Covid – WSJ
  6. Leon Tm, Drabawila V, Nelson L, et al. Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations by Covid-19 vaccination status and previous Covid-19 diagnosis-California and New York, May -November 2021.  MMWR 2022;71:125-31 COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations by COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Previous COVID-19 Diagnosis — California and New York, May–November 2021 (cdc.gov)

Disclosures: The listed questions and answers are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of Mercy Hospital-St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Catalyst, Harvard University, their affiliate academic healthcare centers, or its contributors. Although every effort has been made to provide accurate information, the author is far from being perfect. The reader is urged to verify the content of the material with other sources as deemed appropriate and exercise clinical judgment in the interpretation and application of the information provided herein. No responsibility for an adverse outcome or guarantees for a favorable clinical result is assumed by the author. Thank you!

Should patients with prior Covid receive Covid vaccine?

Can my patient with Covid-19 get reinfected?

FA Manian MD, MPH, , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Patients with prior history of Covid-19 have been shown to get reinfected, sometimes less severe and sometimes more severe than the first bout.1-3 What we don’t really know is how often reinfection actually occurs, either with or without symptoms.

Symptomatic reinfection with genetically distinct SARS-CoV-2 following Covid-19 has been reported from several countries, including the USA. 1  A case series of 4 patients (age range of 33-51 y) found the severity of second infection ranging from asymptomatic to more severe disease requiring hospitalization.  First infection was mild in these cases with an intervening period of 48-142 days.1  BNO News, a Dutch website, lists many more “officially confirmed cases” as well as over a thousand “suspected reinfection cases”.4

Reinfection with Covid-19 in at least some people should not be too surprising. Some may have a suboptimal immune response to the first infection (eg with mild infection) that may be short-lasting, while others may have a better response.  Even in those with adequate response, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may drop rapidly (half-life 36 days according to one study).3 Immunity to several other seasonal respiratory coronaviruses (cousins of SARS-CoV-2) also seems short lived (as short as 6 months).5 How much other arms of the immune system besides antibodies (eg, T cell immunity) play a role in conferring longer lasting immunity remains unclear.

These findings suggest that we cannot rely on natural infection to provide us individual or herd immunity.  Immunization is likely a better answer!

Bonus Pearl: Did you know that preliminary reports suggest that antibody loss with Covid-19 is more rapid than that found for SARS-CoV-1, the agent of SARS pandemic of 2003?3

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References

  1. Iwasaki A. What reinfections mean for COVID-19. Lancet Infect Dis 2020. Published online October 12, 2020. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30783-0/fulltext
  2. Tillett RL, Sevinsky JR, Hartley PD, et al. Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study. Lancet Infect Dis 2020. Published online October 12, 2020. https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(20)30764-7.pdf
  3. Ibarrondo J, Fulcher JA, Goodman-Meza D, et al. Rapid decay of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in persons with mild Covid-19. N Engl J Med 2020; September 10. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc2025179
  4. Kunzman K. Contagion Live. October 12, 2020. https://www.contagionlive.com/view/us-reports-first-confirmed-covid-19-reinfection-patient. Accessed Dec 23, 2020.
  5. Edridge AWD, Kaczorowska J, Hoste ACR, et al. Seasonal coronavirus protective immunity is short-lasting. Nature Medicine 2020;26:1691-93. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32929268/

Disclosures: The listed questions and answers are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of Mercy Hospital-St. Louis or its affiliate healthcare centers. Although every effort has been made to provide accurate information, the author is far from being perfect. The reader is urged to verify the content of the material with other sources as deemed appropriate and exercise clinical judgment in the interpretation and application of the information provided herein. No responsibility for an adverse outcome or guarantees for a favorable clinical result is assumed by the author. Thank you!

 

 

Can my patient with Covid-19 get reinfected?

Can my patient contract influenza more than once in a season?

FA Manian MD, MPH, , , , , Leave a comment

It’s not common but reinfection with influenza can definitely occur, either due to the same viral strain, or due to a different one altogether.

One study reported influenza reinfection due to H1N1 in otherwise healthy patients within 12-20 days of the original infection after an apparent period of full recovery. 1 There was no evidence of resistance to oseltamivir among isolates and all patients recovered after the second infection.

Reinfection with the same viral strain within 2-3 weeks of the initial bout of influenza shouldn’t be too surprising since it takes 4-7 weeks for antibody response to the infection to peak. 2 Reexposure to the same circulating strain of influenza virus (the season can last 6 weeks or longer) can then result in reinfection when the body hasn’t had enough time to make significant amount of protective antibodies following the first infection.

Another explanation is that more than 1 strains of influenza virus often circulate during any given season.   This places patients at risk of infection due to strains of influenza virus that do not confer significant cross-immunity between each other,  resulting in getting “the flu twice in 1 season.” 3

References

  1. Perz CM, Ferres M, Labarca JA. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 reinfection, Chile. Emerg Infect Dis 2010;16:156-57. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/1/pdfs/09-1420.pdf
  2. Treanor JJ. Influenza viruses, including avian influenza and swine influenza. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and practice of infectious diseases. 7th ed. New York: Elsevier; 2010. p 2265-2293.
  3. Rettner R. Can you get the flu twice in 1 season? Scientific American, LiveScience, February 4, 2018. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-you-get-the-flu-twice-in-1-season/ . Accessed February 5, 2018.

 

Can my patient contract influenza more than once in a season?