Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Batman Training and Research Hospital, Batman, Turkey.
Batman Provincial Health Directorate, TR Ministry of Health, Batman, Turkey.
Eur J Clin Invest. 2022 Jun;52(6):e13767. doi: 10.1111/eci.13767. Epub 2022 Mar 25.
Protective long-term immunity following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unclear. The study evaluated the relationship between the vaccination status and risk factors in the re-infection of patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 who reported to the Public Health Management System in a province in south-eastern Turkey.
Patients with positive results for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in respiratory samples were defined as confirmed cases. Reinfection was diagnosed in cases with COVID-19 real-time RT-PCR positivity, with or without COVID-19-like symptoms, in at least 90 days after the first infection/disease.
A total of 58 811 patients with the diagnosis of COVID-19 from March 11, 2020, to August 31, 2021, were included in the study. Re-infection was detected in 421 (0.7%) of all patients. The mean age of the cases was 38.0±16.0 years, and 51% of them were female. Eight (2.0%) of the cases resulted in death due to re-infection. No hospitalization or mortality was observed in fully vaccinated patients. Additionally, none of the mortal cases had completed the vaccination schedule.
We are concerned that the re-infection rates and mortality may increase due to new variant strains. Vaccination is the greatest weapon against progression to critical illness in re-infections, even with existing mutations. Therefore, it is important for those without a full vaccination schedule to be vaccinated, even if they have been previously infected.
新冠肺炎（COVID-19）后保护性的长期免疫尚不清楚。本研究评估了土耳其东南部一省公共卫生管理系统报告的 COVID-19 诊断患者中，疫苗接种状况与再感染风险因素之间的关系。
通过呼吸道样本实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 呈阳性的患者被定义为确诊病例。在首次感染/发病至少 90 天后，COVID-19 实时 RT-PCR 阳性，伴有或不伴有 COVID-19 样症状的患者被诊断为再感染。
本研究共纳入 2020 年 3 月 11 日至 2021 年 8 月 31 日期间诊断为 COVID-19 的 58811 例患者。在所有患者中，检测到 421 例（0.7%）再感染。病例的平均年龄为 38.0±16.0 岁，51%为女性。8 例（2.0%）再感染病例死亡。完全接种疫苗的患者未发生住院或死亡。此外，没有死亡病例完成了疫苗接种计划。
我们担心新变异株可能会导致再感染率和死亡率增加。即使存在现有突变，接种疫苗仍是防止再感染进展为重症的最佳手段。因此，对于未完成全疫苗接种计划的人，即使之前已感染过，接种疫苗也很重要。
