Italian scientists have proved that re-infection with coronavirus after recovery is relatively rare, and immunity against SARS-CoV-2 lasts for a long time. The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, is briefly reported in a press release on MedicalXpress.
Experts analyzed medical records of more than 15 thousand people and identified 1579 positive results for SARS-CoV-2. A year after that, 3.9% of initially healthy people contracted the coronavirus, and only 0.31% (five people) who recovered from COVID-19 suffered a second attack of the disease. Re-infection was defined as the occurrence of a new infection at least 90 days after the complete disappearance of traces of the virus from the original infection. Scientists note that four out of five re-infected either worked in the hospital or visited them, which is associated with a high risk of contracting coronavirus. And only one in five people had symptoms severe enough to be hospitalized. The median time from initial infection to re-infection was 230 days.