[ad_1]
The research group assumes a 91 percent lower risk of recurrence.
Graz. Med Uni Graz, together with Stanford University in California and AGES, has conducted for the first time a study on the risk of relapse with the coronavirus. The result: a disease offers 91 percent protection against re-infection. The study is based on national data on infections. The results were published in the “European Journal of Clinical Investigation,” announced Med Uni Graz. Still, the results must be interpreted with caution.
More than 100 million people worldwide and more than 400,000 people in Austria have so far tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In prevention measures, the question arises of how much a disease that has already suffered protects against a new infection. The response can have a significant impact on vaccination strategies or model calculations for virus spread. In cooperation between the Medical University of Graz, AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety) and Stanford University, this question was first examined as part of a study with national data on infections.
In the second wave of infections from September to November 2020, people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 as part of the first wave of infections (February to April 2020) were compared to the rest of the general Austrian population . After an interval of approximately seven months from initial infection, the following became apparent: People with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, compared with a first infection in the rest of the general population, had a 91 percent 100% less risk of reinfection. “Although, of course, we must be very careful with comparisons with vaccine studies, these results suggest that after a SARS-CoV-2 infection one has just as strong protection against a new infection as after a vaccine.” was the conclusion of Stefan Pilz from Med Uni Graz. Together with Ali Chakeri from AGES, Pilz is the first author of the trade publication.
Reinfection detected in 40 people
Reinfections with SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 40 people in the study, and the single death did not show a causal relationship with reinfection. Although PCR tests were used to confirm the diagnosis, the study authors note that the results should be interpreted with caution due to the tests not being 100 percent specific and the various limitations of the data reporting.
However, the publication is likely to be of “crucial importance”, as it is not only based on antibody determinations in special study populations, but also shows for the first time the real risk of reinfection in the entire population of a country , including all age groups. . “These data show an increasing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the Austrian population, although we currently do not know to what extent this immunity can also be transferred to various mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Or how long and in what force this protection against reinfection lasts longer, ”emphasized Franz Allerberger from AGES.
Therefore, further assessments of the risk of reinfection over longer periods, as well as data from other countries, are urgently required. These would also be processed in the future by the research group of Pilz, Franz and John PA Ioannidis at Stanford University.
