A new study reveals Covid reinfections significantly lower the risk of developing long Covid compared to initial infections. Researchers found only 6% of reinfected individuals developed long-term symptoms versus 15% after first exposure. Omicron infections showed the lowest long Covid rates, though widespread transmission still led to many cases. The findings suggest immune adaptation may help reduce persistent symptoms in reinfected individuals.
May 15, 2025
Covid-19 reinfections less likely to cause long Covid: Study
"Long Covid risk is roughly two-thirds lower
following reinfection compared to first infection" – Laval University
Researchers"
Reinfections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind
Covid-19, is less likely to cause long Covid -- a condition that affects at
least 65 million people worldwide, according to a study.
Key Points
1 Long Covid risk drops to 6% after reinfection
vs 15% initially
2 Omicron
infections show lowest long Covid rates
3 Fatigue
and cognitive issues remain top symptoms
4 Study
analyzed over 26,000 survey responses
Long
Covid affects people after an infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The
condition is not properly defined yet presents more than 200 symptoms. Long
Covid risk and severity is known to compromise self-rated health, physical
capacity, and cognitive function.
The preprint study, not peer-reviewed yet, showed
that the risk of Long Covid was 6 per cent after reinfections from Covid virus
compared to 15 per cent after the initial infection.
Fatigue, shortness of breath, neurocognitive
symptoms, post-exertional malaise, and smell or taste disturbances were the
most reported common symptoms among people with long Covid.
"Severe symptoms were reported 5 to 22 times
more often by long Covid cases than by Covid controls, except for fever, cough,
insomnia, anxiety, and depression (2.7 to 4.5 times)," said the Laval
University in Quebec, Canada.
The study is based on 22,496 online survey
participants and 3,978 telephone survey participants.
The results showed that the risk of long Covid was
two to three times higher after the initial infection (14.8 per cent). On the
other hand, the risk of long Covid was 5.8 per cent after the first reinfection
and 5.3 per cent after the second.
Notably, the risk for long Covid was highest
following infections with the ancestral strain and lowest after Omicron
infections.
However, because Omicron caused such widespread
transmission, that strain was associated with the most long-Covid cases.
"The study indicates that long Covid risk is
roughly two-thirds lower following reinfection compared to first
infection," the researchers said. "This may be partly related to
greater host-specific resistance among individuals who did not have long Covid
following their first episode," they added.
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