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People who have recovered from a Covid-19 infection are likely protected from reinfection for at least six months, but according to a study published Wednesday, that protection drops dramatically for people 65 and older.
According to The Hill, the study, which was published in The Lancet titled ‘Assessment of protection against reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 among 4 million people undergoing PCR testing in Denmark in 2020: a population-level observational study ‘found protection in the general population to be 80% or more in those under 65, but about 47% in those 65 and over, meaning they are more likely to get infected again.
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“We found that protection in the population was 80% or more in those under 65, but about 47% in those 65 and over. We saw no signs of decreased protection against re-infection in the year 2020 “. said the scientists in the discussion of the research paper.
They added: “Our estimates of overall protection after previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 of 77-83% are in line with several other UK, Qatar, and US cohort studies reporting that reinfection is rare and occurs in less than 1% of all Covid-19 cases. “
The scientists calculated relatively low protection against reinfection in people 65 and older compared to younger people.
“People 65 and older had less than 50% protection against repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections after the first infection. However, another study group, using a different study design, found a high degree of protection against reinfection among older people, “they said.
“Our finding that older people were more likely than younger people to test positive again if they had already tested positive could be explained by natural age-related changes in the immune system of older adults, also known as immune senescence,” they added .
The Hill reported that the authors found no evidence that protection against repeat infection was waning after six months of follow-up, but because COVID-19 was only discovered in December 2019, they said longer-term studies are needed. .
However, the study concluded that natural protection cannot be relied on, particularly among the elderly, and vaccination of all populations is the most reliable to ensure protection against Covid-19.
The authors said those results highlight the importance of measures to protect older people during the pandemic, such as increased physical distancing and prioritizing them for vaccines, even for those who have recovered from the virus.
The Lancet study looked at patient data collected in Denmark because the county has instituted a successful national testing program. The country has expanded its free PCR testing program, and as of December 31, more than 10 million PCR tests were performed on 4 million people, representing more than two-thirds of the country’s population.
This story has been published from a news agency feed with no changes to the text.
