RELATED: The CDC Says Vaccinated People Who Get COVID Have This in Common. A new study preprinted June 13 on medRxiv looks at the characteristics of COVID patients who have tested positive for the virus more than once. Researchers pulled clinical and testing data for 23 patients from a large U.S. electronic health record database. The patients had positive test results at least 60 days apart and separated by at least two consecutive negative test results—making it clear that these were reinfection cases, not cases in which people had prolonged COVID infections. According to the study, 96 percent of these reinfected patients had two or more comorbidities, which is the simultaneous presence of diseases or medical conditions within a patient. In this study, 70 percent of the patients had hypertension, 26 percent had cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation, or chronic kidney disease, and 22 percent had type 2 diabetes or a history of venous thromboembolism or long-term anticoagulation. These are all considered risk factors for COVID by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Based on what we know from similar viruses, some reinfections are expected. We are still learning more about COVID-19,” the CDC said in a statement on its website. However, the agency added that while cases of COVID reinfection have been reported, they “remain rare.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. But having two or more comorbidities is not the only shared characteristic among patients who get COVID more than once. The researchers also found that 61 percent of the reinfected patients were either overweight or had obesity, 83 percent had immune compromising conditions, and 83 percent also smoked within the prior year. The average age for the patients who were reinfected was around 64 to 65 years.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb “Our study demonstrated a high prevalence of immune compromise, comorbidities, obesity and smoking among patients with repeatedly positive SARS-CoV-2 tests,” the researchers said. RELATED: If You Take Medication for This, You May Still Need a Mask, CDC Says.
