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NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections
What: Using health data from almost 213,000 Americans who experienced reinfections, researchers have found that severe infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Healths (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, is published in Communications Medicine.
The analysis used data from electronic health records of 3.1 million Americans who are part of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). Researchers focused on 212,984 people who reported a reinfection. Those individuals were originally infected between March 1, 2020-Dec. 31, 2022, and experienced a second infection by March 2023. Most participants (203,735) had COVID-19 twice, but a small number (478) had it three times or more. COVID-19 vaccines, though not available during the entire study period, correlated with a protective effect.
About 27% of those with severe cases, defined as receiving hospital care for a coronavirus infection, also received hospital care for a reinfection. Adults with severe cases were more likely to have underlying health conditions and be ages 60 or older. In contrast, about 87% of those who had mild COVID cases that did not require hospital care the first time also had mild cases of reinfections.
Reinfections were defined as having occurred at least two months after a first infection. They were found to occur most frequently when omicron variants were circulating in late 2021 and early 2022. Waning immunity and increased exposure to the coronavirus, including the highly-infectious variants, likely accounted for the uptick.
Scientists also discovered that regardless of the variant, long COVID cases were more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. Long COVID was defined in the review as those experiencing long-term COVID-19 symptoms, such as feeling tired, coughing, or having problems sleeping, breathing, or thinking, after an acute coronavirus infection.
Researchers also found that lower levels of albumin, a protein made by the liver, may indicate a higher risk for reinfection. This finding could indicate lower albumin as a possible risk marker for reinfection. Scientists believe this deserves further attention, such as by considering trials to test if nutritional interventions may prevent reinfection or its severity.
The study is funded by NIHs RECOVER Initiative. Additional support came from the N3C Data Enclave, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, also part of NIH.
Who: David C. Goff, M.D., Ph.D., a senior scientific program director for the RECOVER Observational Consortium Steering Committee and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH, is available for interviews on this paper.
Study: Hadley E, Yoo YJ, Patel S, et al. Insights from an N3C RECOVER EHR-based cohort study characterizing SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and Long COVID. Commun Med. 2024; doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00539-2.
Infographic: https://recovercovid.org/sites/default/files/docs/analysis_of_electronic_health_records_infographic.pdf
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What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) is a disease caused by a respiratory virus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This was a new virus that had not caused illness in humans before. Worldwide, COVID-19 has resulted in over 270 million human infections, causing illness and hundreds of thousands of deaths. The widespread virus, which has caused over 800,000 United States deaths, has been reported in Anne Arundel County, Maryland with more than 55,000 cases and over 750 deaths.
The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is a global pandemic. Federal, state and local governments have taken a comprehensive approach to keep Marylanders safe. For Maryland and Anne Arundel County confirmed COVID-19 cases to date,check the Maps. To slow the spread of COVID-19 and get the country back to normal, individuals will need to get vaccinated and practice healthy hygiene measures including frequent handwashing.
Unvaccinated people are at higher risk for COVID-19 than fully vaccinated individuals.
Unvaccinated older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19.*
Based upon available information to date, those most at risk are listed atMedical Conditions and COVID-19.
COVID-19 is spread just like colds or flu through:
The following symptoms may appear214 days after exposure:
There are other symptoms for COVID-19, including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and skin rashes.
NOTE: Symptoms usually appear within 214 days from time of exposure. Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms. Infected people without symptoms can still spread the disease. If you have concerns about any symptoms or possible exposure, call your health care provider or get tested. The Department of Health offers free rapid testing kits.
Viruses are constantly changing, including the virus that causes COVID-19. These changes occur over time and can lead to new strains of the virus or variants of COVID-19. Getting vaccinated can help slow new variants from developing.
Most people recover from this infection. Close to 80 percent will have mild or moderate symptoms. People with any symptoms can use testing as an additional prevention strategy to assist in making decisions to further protect yourself and others. To lessen the severity of symptoms, people who have COVID-19 should get medical advice.
Some COVID-19 infections can lead to serious illness, and in some cases death. If someone has a more serious illness from COVID-19, they may be admitted to the hospital. Older people and those with pre-existing medical problems have a greater risk for serious illness. Examples of pre-existing medical problems are cancer, diabetes, heart disease, COPD or other conditions impacting the immune systems ability to fight germs.
Follow the CDCs recommendations for respiratory virus guidance.
The CDC recommends that all people use core prevention strategies to decrease the spread of respiratory viruses. These are important steps you can take to protect yourself and others:
Additional prevention strategies you can choose to further protect yourself and others include:
Face mask recommendations and other COVID prevention recommendations are based on the countys COVID-19 hospitalization level as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Per CDC recommendations, a well-fitting face mask is recommended to be worn at the end of isolation when testing positive for COVID-19 or after being exposed to COVID-19. Face masks provide extra protection from COVID-19 and its variants for both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Here are guidelines on face coverings.
Anne Arundel County residents can be tested by primary care providers, pharmacies. The Department of Health offers free rapid testing kits.
The CDC states that at this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading COVID-19. Human transmission of COVID-19 to animals is considered to be low.
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COVID is surging this summer, here's how guidelines have changed - The Columbus Dispatch
(WXMI) The state is seeing a slight increase in COVID-19 cases this summer.
Local hospitalizations are up slightly, according to the Kent County Health Department (KCHD). Hospitalizations and ER visits are likely the best method of collecting case data as positive tests along may be inaccurate.
"We don't have a great sense for how much COVID is in the community. So I think what matters to us is how severe are people, also really sick are people, getting from COVID? says KCHD Medical Director Dr. Nirali Bora. And I think the best indication for that is how many people are having to get hospitalized because of COVID."
Dr. Bora says new variants are forming but the latest vaccines should be able to manage them. She tells us it's hard to identify what caused recent trends but its still important to remain considerate around other people if youre feeling under the weather.
"I think it's really paying attention to those who are most vulnerable to COVID, says Dr. Bora. If I'm not feeling well, I want to make sure that I'm not going to infect those who can get very sick from this. The people I want to really think about in my circle are people who are young children, infants under the age of 6 months, older people, people older than 65, especially older than 75, people who have a weakened immune system for any reason, people who are living with disabilities and people who are pregnant."
State data shows deaths went down from the previous week. Visits to the ER are up but they are still relatively low.
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COVID numbers up slightly in West Michigan - FOX 17 West Michigan News
Here are 10 questionable things Dr. Anthony Fauci did during the pandemic years as Americas COVID-19 czar:
In Faucis defense, there were extenuating circumstances for some of these failings. His advice on masks and his prediction about herd immunity were made early in the pandemic when information was still preliminary and uncertainty was high. He deserves the benefit of the doubt on those issues, just as he might on the 6-foot separation rule.
He might also merit a pass on discussing the importance of aerosol spread and the social effects of lockdowns, which were not appreciated by many experts at the time. For the other charges suppressing public debate, politicizing the pandemic as a justification for the excessive use of government authority and his failure to take responsibility there are no excuses.
His supporters would say those negatives are outweighed by the reassurance he provided the public and his emphasis on promoting vaccination. Thats for each individual to decide.
But whatever that verdict, a prosecution or persecution of Fauci is not warranted. With the facts we have now, he does not merit criminal investigation as such critics as business titan Elon Musk and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, have suggested. This is not postwar Soviet Union or East Germany or communist China of the 2020s, where doctors and scientists were prosecuted as political agents and enemies of the state.
We need a thorough investigation of what our scientific elite did during the COVID-19 pandemic but in the name of open investigation not witch hunts.
No good purpose would be served by subjecting Fauci, one of Americas most prominent scientists and beloved by half the country, to criminal scrutiny, and in fact, some very bad purposes would be served.
First, there is little evidence that he broke any laws. The closest his adversaries can come is accusing him of lying to Congress about gain-of-function research, a broad charge that could certainly be defended on technical grounds. That is not to say Fauci was acting in good faith when he answered questions in front of Congress; merely, that he was not acting in a criminal fashion. He is hardly the first, nor will he be the last, to testify in front of Congress that way.
Second, turning the investigative powers of the state on a prominent scientist would have a chilling effect on the entire scientific community. The last thing we want is for young scientists to be looking over their shoulders while they do their work; we want them pursuing research goals, useful truths and public health solutions.
Not to exonerate him on his missteps, but investigating Fauci would be naked politicization of science something Fauci himself can be accused of. There are plenty of scientists who have and will continue to inject politics into science, itself a breach of honest scientific inquiry. Government officials need not engage in that.
The late British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, famously said, Advisers advise, ministers decide. The balance between the scientific community and those who make public policy is fragile. A certain amount of tension between the two is necessary and even desirable. The scientists of the Manhattan Project did not always get on with the politicians in charge of the project, but that tension helped them reach their ultimate goal more quickly.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, both the scientists and the politicians completely upset that balance: the public health community, including Fauci, through the excessive hubris of their public pronouncements, and politicians such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who pursued disastrous, unscientific policies (sending elderly COVID-19 patients back to nursing homes) or California Gov. Gavin Newsom dining at a fancy French restaurant during Californias coronavirus surge.
It will take years for the public health authorities and the public to trust each other again. It will take much longer if the politicians decide to embark on a legal crusade against Fauci. He is far from blameless, but he is in no way a criminal, and America does not need that spectacle.
Dr. Cory Franklin is a retired intensive care physician.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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COVID variants are emerging every now and then. With every new mutation, the variant's ability to escape immunity increases and so is its transmission rate. Immunity against COVID is also increasing. However, the danger due to COVID is still not over. COVID is still killing around 1,700 people a week around the world, the World Health Organization said Thursday, as it urged at-risk populations to keep up with their vaccinations against the disease. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounded a warning on declining vaccine coverage. More than seven million COVID deaths have been reported to the WHO, though the true toll of the pandemic is thought to be far higher. Despite the continued death toll, "data show that vaccine coverage has declined among health workers and people over 60, which are two of the most at-risk groups," the UN health agency's chief told a press conference. New COVID variantsNew COVID variants, named FLiRT and FLuQE are spreading at a higher rate. In recent months, the "FLiRT" subvariants of COVID-19, specifically descendants of the Omicron variant JN.1, have gained attention. These subvariants, such as KP.1.1, KP.2, and JN.1.7, include mutations in the amino acids of the viruss spike protein, most notably F456L, V1104L, and R346T. KP.2 has been particularly significant, contributing to an increase in COVID-19 infections in Australia and elsewhere around May. The spike protein, found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, facilitates the virus's attachment to human cells. The FLiRT subvariants arise from random mutations in the virus's genetic code, resulting in changes to the spike protein. FLuQE (KP.3) is a new variant that has arisen as a direct descendant of FLiRT, featuring the same mutations found in FLiRT variants. However, FLuQE includes an additional amino acid change in the spike protein, specifically Q493E. This alteration means that the amino acid glutamine at position 493 has been replaced by glutamic acid. Given the spike protein's length of 1,273 amino acids, this change is significant. This modification could potentially enhance the virus's ability to infect human cells. The change from a neutral to a negatively charged amino acid may affect how the virus interacts with cells, altering its infectious capabilities. FLuQE's distinct mutation at position 493 may have implications for how the virus behaves compared to its predecessors. This could have important implications for understanding and managing the spread of this variant. How to stay safe?COVID-19 preventive measures include vaccination for eligible individuals, wearing masks in crowded or indoor settings, practicing frequent hand hygiene, maintaining physical distancing when possible, and ensuring adequate ventilation in enclosed spaces. These measures help reduce the spread of the virus and protect individuals and communities from COVID-19 infection.
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Think COVID is gone? WHO says coronavirus still kills 1,700 a week - The Times of India
COVID-19 levels have been rising in nearly all parts of the Bay Area over the past month, wastewater data shows.
While not as high as the winter surge, doctors said the increase is hitting earlier than in past years and is likely to continue climbing.
UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said the increase is hitting hospitals, too. He cautions those at high risk to take precautions.
"Over the last few months I have taken care of quite a few patients in the hospital," he said. "They tend to be older than 75 or very immune compromised. Pretty much everybody I've taken care of didnt get the new shot."
Chin-Hong said extreme heat and summer celebrations are pushing more people inside. That coupled with a new, more contagious variant and a decrease in immunity six months after the winter spike are all partly to blame for the summer surge this year.
"We are kind of still in the middle of it," Chin-Hong said. "After the July Fourth, it was super hot, a lot of people went indoors. I'm expecting those numbers to continue to be high for a few more weeks, but I'm crossing my fingers that those numbers will also start going down sooner than they did last year."
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Bay Area COVID-19 levels on the rise this summer - NBC Bay Area
Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier looks back at the medias fearmongering over COVID-19 four years after the pandemic on "The Bottom Line."
A new report by the Heritage Foundation's Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 found that the COVID pandemic caused $18 trillion in economic losses to the U.S. and placed blame for the outbreak on the Chinese government.
FOX Business exclusively viewed an advance copy of the report, which estimated that as of December 2023, the pandemic's total economic cost in the U.S. topped $18 trillion after taking into account several ways in which the pandemic affected the economy.
That figure includes more than $8.6 trillion caused by excess deaths; more than $1.825 trillion in lost income; $6 trillion due to chronic conditions such as "long COVID"; and mental health losses of $1 trillion and educational losses of $435 billion pushed the total above $18 trillion.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a staggering toll on the United States, both in human lives and in economic terms. The total estimated cost of $18.007 trillion is a stark reminder of the profound impact this global health crisis has had on the nation," the commission wrote. "By understanding and acknowledging these costs, we can lay the groundwork for holding accountable those whose negligence or overt actions exacerbated the pandemic's severity."
UNIONS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST PHILADELPHIA FOR MANDATING THAT FULL-TIME CITY WORKERS RETURN TO OFFICE
The Heritage Foundation's Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 found that the pandemic's economic toll on the U.S. totaled more than $18 trillion. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid/File)
The report noted there were 1,476,457 excess deaths in the U.S. from 2020 to 2022 during the height of the pandemic.
In terms of lost economic output, real gross domestic product in that period was 2.5% below what was projected in early 2020 before the pandemic began.
It added that the pandemic was "the most disruptive and costly event of the 21st century" and that the worldwide excess deaths from COVID were estimated to be 28 million, according to an analysis by The Economist.
KANSAS SUES PFIZER OVER 'MISREPRESENTATIONS' AND 'ADVERSE EVENTS' OF COVID-19 VACCINE
The report noted there were nearly 1,476,457 excess deaths in the U.S. from 2020 to 2022, which contributed $8.6 trillion to the economic toll. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
Regarding the origins of COVID, the commission found that it "very likely stemmed from a research-related incident in Wuhan, China."
"Although it remains theoretically possible that COVID-19 emerged via zoonosis in the wild or spillover in a wet market (spillover is a virus originating in animals before it passes to humans), there is no evidentiary basis for either of these hypotheses despite extensive testing over four years," the commission wrote.
The report also included a timeline of the Chinese government's actions as part of a "systematic cover-up" of the origins of COVID that began, at the latest, in December 2019, as well as its failure to take steps to contain the virus within its borders.
PFIZER'S PAXLOVID FAILS AS 15-DAY TREATMENT FOR LONG COVID, STUDY FINDS
The COVID pandemic caused substantial disruptions to daily life and economy. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File)
Commissioners provided recommendations for Congress to consider as it looks to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its role in the COVID pandemic, which include:
The commission also provided recommendations for the president to take action on. Those include making it a diplomatic priority for China to allow an unfettered scientific and forensic investigation into COVID's origins, and imposing economic sanctions on Chinese officials and entities who were complicit in or supported the "distortion and concealment" of information related to the COVID pandemic.
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"In the absence of self-accountability by China, and in view of its obstructionist role in international institutions, the Commission believes that only holding the Chinese government accountable and liable for its negligence and malfeasance can provide both China's government and other governments with the incentives and impetus to act differently in the future," the commissioners wrote.
The report said that it's up to the U.S. government to take action on its recommendations and expressed hope that other governments will take inspiration from the commission's work, adding, "Better to take bold action now than to ask ourselves why we didn't do more if an even deadlier pandemic emerges in the future."
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Commission finds COVID pandemic caused $18 trillion in economic damage to US - Fox Business
A key indicator for tracking the spread of COVID-19 has officially reached "high" levels across western U.S. states, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now shows. But the agency says it remains too early to say whether this year's summer COVID-19 surge has arrived nationwide.
Levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus showing up in wastewater samples are climbing in most parts of the country, according to figures from the agency through June 27.
Health authorities have increasingly relied on analyzing samples from sewers to get a sense of COVID-19 trends, now that cases are largely no longer being tested or reported. The CDC also relies on data from emergency rooms and hospitals to track the virus.
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Nationwide, levels of the virus in wastewater are still "low,"the CDC says. But across the West, preliminary figures from the most recent weeks show this key COVID-19 trend has now passed above the threshold that the agency considers to be "high" levels of the virus.
"Summer is back and we are about to have the summer bump, that we call it, of COVID cases. You know, we have a bump in the summer, and then it goes down in the fall, and goes up more substantially in the winter," Dr. William Schaffner, professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told CBS News.
However, the CDC has stopped short of saying that this year's summer surge has begun.
"During April and May 2024, COVID-19 activity was lower than at any time since the start of the pandemic. Recent increases need to be considered from that baseline," the CDC said in a statement Friday.
Previous years have seen increases of COVID-19 levels over the summer after trends plummet during the spring, though not always at this exact time of the season. Last year's summer surge did not peak until late August or early September.
"While there are indications for the potential start of a summer surge, nationally COVID-19 activity remains low. CDC will continue to monitor to see if these recent increases persist," the agency said.
Some of the worst COVID-19 trends among western states have been in Hawaii, which has been now seeing wastewater levels higher than this past winter's peak.
COVID-19 emergency room visits in Hawaii have also been at some of the worst levels in over a year, in the CDC's data from recent weeks beyond peaks last summer and winter.
These trends could now be showing signs of letting up.
The CDC's forecasters announced last week that COVID-19 cases are now "likely declining" in one U.S. state Hawaii after weeks of increases. Emergency room visits across the regions spanning Hawaii through Arizona now also look to be plateauing, short of peaks from last year's summer and winter waves.
The increases have come as officials and experts have been tracking the rise of a new variant on the opposite side of the country: the LB.1 variant, a descendant of the JN.1 variant from this past winter's wave.
Through early June, the CDC estimates that LB.1 had reached 30.9% of cases in the region spanning New York and New Jersey. Less than 1 in 10 cases across western states were from LB.1 during the same time period.
COVID-19 trends have climbed in emergency room data from the New York and New Jersey area, but remain far from the levels seen at the peaks of either last winter or summer's peaks.
In wastewater, the Northeast's trends of the virus rank among the lowest of any region and remain at levels still considered to be "minimal" by the agency.
Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.
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COVID trend reaches "high" level across western U.S. in latest CDC data - CBS News
