Does the risk of getting long Covid increase each time you get reinfected?
Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly tells STAT what the research says
Friends, this was too important to sit on until Sunday’s post.
Okay, not that (but it IS the fastest way to get a cat’s attention 😸).
A new article today shares a conversation between STAT’s Elizabeth Cooney and Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis who has been appearing all over the Long COVID-sphere these days.
Here are key excerpts, but you can see the full conversation here.
Let’s set the stage: What did you learn about Covid reinfection in your study based on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ national health care database?
We compared people who have a reinfection to people who have no reinfection — not comparing the severity of infection versus the first. What we found is really undeniable: It’s very clear in our data that reinfection contributes additional risk of long Covid.
What does that mean for patients?Â
If you’ve had Covid previously and dodged a bullet and did not get long Covid the first time around and you’re getting another infection now, you’re pretty much trying your luck again. People need to understand that you can get long Covid the second time, even if you dodged the bullet the first time. You can get long Covid the third time.
What if you already have long Covid?
If you had long Covid before, upon reinfection there is a risk of worsening problems. You may have had brain fog and fatigue but not dysautonomia or other manifestations. Long Covid is a broad basket of conditions. Even if you’ve had it before, you’re also trying your luck again.
There you have it, folx. I’ll say it again: avoid this post-plague plague like The Plague.
Unless you relish the idea of having other people’s healthy immune cells slowly dripped into your veins over three hours once a month - and that’s if you’re privileged enough to have access: good insurance, competent doctors, and resources.
As you can see, I made it through IVIG (the process mentioned above) with my snark intact. I’ll be posting about the experience on Sunday.
Until then…
I’m looking forward to reading more of the treatment you mentioned. My long COVID commenced following my second bout of COVID last year, but I was also tested positive for Lyme disease within a couple of weeks, which I had antibiotic treatment for. I’m in Australia and a member of a large online cohort of LC sufferers. A couple of members have taken the physically demanding trip to Cyprus to undergo aphaeresis treatment - with considerable success. But they were severely unwell with LC too. Have you heard of this or know of anyone who has had this treatment?
This is so interesting and exactly what I was told and anticipated upon accidentally contracting it a second time. Instead I have experienced a completely bizarre resolution of most of my long COVID symptoms, but most noticeable the brain injury after having it the second time. However, the working theory with me and the Dr’s is that they prescribed me paxlovid almost immediately bc of the history of long COVID and that may have assisted in resolving some of the nonsense (read inflammation) that I had for the first infection, some of which might have been effecting my brain. I don’t know, and am not in any way licensed, but it was a trippy experience.
I’ve also backslid a bit since revolving the second time. It’s a nasty disease. Zero stars do not recommend.