美国国家公共电台 NPR--You're less likely to get long COVID after a second infection than a first

You're less likely to get long COVID after a second infection than a first

Transcript¹

Long COVID — lingering symptoms that can follow a COVID diagnosis² — plagues millions of Americans. It may be less likely after a second bout³ of COVID than after a first. For those living with it, it can be debilitating⁴. Judy Schafer, 58, met with a group of other women with long COVID via Zoom⁵, at her home in Seattle, Wash., in January.

Jovelle Tamayo/The Washington Post via Getty Images

If you've gotten COVID more than once, as many people have, you may be wondering if your risk for suffering the lingering symptoms of long COVID is the same with every new infection.

The answer appears to be no. The chances of long COVID — a suite⁶ of symptoms including exhaustion⁷ and shortness of breath — falls sharply between the first and second infections, according to recent research.

"It does seem that the risk is significantly lower the second time around than the first time around for developing long COVID," says Daniel Ayoubkhani, a statistician at the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom, who's been studying long COVID in that country.

But the risk does not fall to zero, according to the latest results of an ongoing⁸ survey of more than 500,000 people in the U.K. through March 5.

"The risk of long COVID is significantly lower, ... but it's still non-negligible. It's not impossible to develop long COVID the second time if you didn't develop it the first time. I think that's the key takeaway from our study," Ayoubkhani says.

The survey tracked long COVID symptoms like fatigue⁹, muscle aches, shortness of breath and concentration problems. Fatigue and trouble concentrating were the most common.

Among the adults in the survey, 4% reported long COVID symptoms persisting at least four weeks after their first infection, the survey found. In contrast, just 2.4% of those who hadn't developed lingering health problems after their first infection reported ongoing symptoms after their second case.

"That's a significant reduction in the odds¹⁰," he says.

The study didn't examine why the risk for long COVID would be lower from a second infection than a first. But Ayoubkhani says there could be several reasons.

For example, the immunity¹¹ people have built up from previous infections may reduce the risk of developing long COVID from the next one. "We don't know that from our data, but that's a hypothesis," he says.

Another possibility is that the study excluded those who had gotten long COVID from their first infection, so those who didn't get it from their first infection may be innately¹² less prone¹³ to long COVID for some reason.

"It could have something to do with someone's predisposition," he says.

The study also didn't examine whether a second infection worsens symptoms in people who already have long COVID.

Even though the study was conducted in the U.K., there's no reason to believe the results wouldn't apply to the U.S., he says.

In fact, the findings are consistent with an earlier study that produced similar results by examining data from hundreds of thousands of patients treated through the U.S. Veterans Administration.

That study, which was published in November, found that the risk of still experiencing health problems a year after getting COVID fell from about 10% from a first infection to about 6% from a second infection.

"Undeniably, we are seeing very, very clearly that for the second infection the risk is lower than the first infection," says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis who led that study.

Al-Aly agrees that may be due in part to immunity from the first infection. Another factor is that later strains of the virus appear to cause milder disease, which may make them less likely to lead to long-COVID.

"When people got re-infected they generally got re-infected with omicron, which is certainly milder," he said, discussing the results of his study.

Another possible influence may be improved treatments, which lessened¹⁴ the severity of COVID, he says.

Neither study examined the risk of long COVID after a third or fourth infection, but Al-Aly hopes that the risk would continue to decline with each subsequent infection.

"All these things are pointing in the right direction that makes me optimistic that at some point in time re-infection may add trivial risks or non-consequential risks," he says.

"That's our hope. We don't have data. But that's our hope," he says.

But Al-Aly notes that because so many people are still catching¹⁵ the virus, the overall number who are suffering from lingering health problems continues to increase even if there is a lower risk from second infections.

"I sort of liken it to Russian Roulette," Al-Aly says. "The odds at the individual level of getting long COVID after a second infection versus¹⁶ the first is lower for any individual person."

But he adds, "that risk is not zero," and that means at a population level, we still see a growing number of cases of long COVID in the community — and a growing burden on caregivers and society.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

3 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

4 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

5 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

6 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

7 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

10 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

11 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

12 innately   

adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地

参考例句：

• Innately conservative, Confucius was fascinated by the last of these disciplines. 由于生性保守，孔子特别推崇“礼”。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Different individuals are innately fitted for different kinds of employment. 不同的人适合不同的职业，这是天生的。 来自互联网

13 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

14 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

15 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

16 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。