Annals of Thoracic Medicine Official publication of the Saudi Thoracic Society, affiliated to King Saud University
 
Search Ahead of print Current Issue Archives Instructions Subscribe e-Alerts Login 
Home Email this article link Print this article Bookmark this page Decrease font size Default font size Increase font size
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2022  |  Volume : 17  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 81-86

COVID-19 reinfection: A multicenter retrospective study in Saudi Arabia


1 Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center; College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences; Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3 College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4 College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences; Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Mohammad Bosaeed
Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh 11426
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/atm.atm_74_22

Rights and Permissions

INTRODUCTION: There are limited direct data on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) long-term immune responses and reinfection. This study aimed to evaluate the rate, risk factors, and severity of COVID-19 reinfection. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included five hospitals across Saudi Arabia. All subjects who were presented or admitted with positive SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests were evaluated between March 2020 and August 2021. Reinfection was defined as a patient who was infected followed by clinical recovery, and later became infected again 90 days post first infection. The infection was confirmed with a positive SARS-CoV-2 (RT-PCR). Four hundred and seventeen recovered cases but with no reinfection were included as a control. RESULTS: A total of 35,288 RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients were observed between March 2020 and August 2021. Based on the case definition, (0.37%) 132 patients had COVID-19 reinfection. The mean age in the reinfected cases was 40.95 ± 19.48 (range 1–87 years); Females were 50.76%. Body mass index was 27.65 ± 6.65 kg/m2; diabetes and hypertension were the most common comorbidities. The first infection showed mild symptoms in 91 (68.94%) patients; and when compared to the control group, comorbidities, severity of infection, and laboratory investigations were not statistically different. Hospitalization at the first infection was higher, but not statistically different when compared to the control group (P = 0.093). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 reinfection is rare and does not carry a higher risk of severe disease. Further studies are required, especially with the continuously newly emerging variants, with the unpredictable risk of reinfection.


[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
Print this article     Email this article
 Next article
 Previous article
 Table of Contents

 Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
 Citation Manager
 Access Statistics
 Reader Comments
 Email Alert *
 Add to My List *
 * Requires registration (Free)
 

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed3585    
    Printed150    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded454    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 2    

Recommend this journal