Oct. 7, 2024—We've been living with COVID-19 for more than four years now, and we've come a long way. Today, vaccines and treatments help prevent serious illness and death.
Still, the virus continues to circulate, and some people have been infected three or four times or more. You might be wondering how repeat infections could affect your health.
Here are answers to some common questions people have about getting COVID-19 multiple times, based on information from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Medical Association (AMA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other experts.
Q. Why do I keep getting COVID-19?
When you get COVID-19—or get the COVID-19 vaccine—your immune system learns how to fight the virus.
But, like the flu and cold viruses, the virus that causes COVID-19 evolves over time, mutating into new variants. Your immune system can't defend itself as well against those newer variants. This is known as waning immunity. It's a big reason some people have had multiple cases of COVID-19 over the past few years.
Q. Is COVID-19 worse when you get it again?
Recent research funded by NIH and published in Communications Medicine looked at data from more than 200,000 Americans who were reinfected with COVID-19. It suggests that your next bout of the disease is likely to be about as bad as your last one.
In other words, if your first case of COVID-19 was mild, future ones are likely to be mild too. On the flip side, if it hit you hard in the past, you're likely to be just as sick next time you get it.
Q. Am I more likely to get long COVID if I’ve had COVID-19 multiple times?
At least 20 million people have been diagnosed with long COVID in the United States, according to the AAMC. Since reinfections have become common, it's natural to worry about increasing your risk of long COVID.
Some studies suggest that the more times you have COVID-19, the more likely you are to develop long COVID, according to the AMA. And the AAMC reports that your odds of long COVID appear to go up with each new infection.
However, the Communications Medicine study found that long COVID is more likely to happen after your first brush with the virus, compared to reinfection.
It's important to remember that there's a lot we still don't know about long COVID. More research is needed to answer this question definitively.
Q. How can I avoid getting COVID-19?
Vaccines don't guarantee you won't get COVID-19. But your chances of reinfection go down if you're up-to-date on your shots. People with an up-to-date vaccine cut symptomatic infections by 54% compared to those with waning immunity from an older vaccine, according to the AAMC.
The updated vaccine also cuts the risk of long COVID and other complications. So staying up-to-date is the best thing you can do to protect yourself and others, according to the AMA.
Masks also give you some protection from infection. If you're headed into a higher risk situation, like traveling through crowded airports or using public transportation, a mask can cut down your risk of getting sick. The AMA recommends a good-fitting KN95 or N95 mask.
Sources
- American Medical Association. "What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About COVID-19 Reinfection." https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-covid-19-reinfection.
- Association of American Medical Colleges. "Had COVID Recently? Here's What to Know About How Long Immunity Lasts, Long COVID, and More." https://www.aamc.org/news/had-covid-recently-here-s-what-know-about-how-long-immunity-lasts-long-covid-and-more.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "About Reinfection." https://www.cdc.gov/covid/about/reinfection.html.
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "Study Suggests Reinfections From the Virus That Causes COVID-19 Likely Have Similar Severity as Original Infection." https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2024/study-suggests-reinfections-virus-causes-covid-19-likely-have-similar-severity-original.