Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in a Spanish region

Oriol Yuguero; Maria Companys; Marianela Guzmán; Rita Maciel; Cecília Llobet; Aurora López; Rebeca Olles; Violant Pujol; Maria José Ruiz; Mireia Saura; Carmel Vidal; Pere Godoy

doi:10.1177/20503121221108556

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in a Spanish region

SAGE Open Med. 2022 Jun 27:10:20503121221108556. doi: 10.1177/20503121221108556. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ ER LAB, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain.
² Faculty of Medicine, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
³ CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to assess the prevalence and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in a Spanish region.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study in all patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections in the Lleida health region from 1 March to 30 November 2020. Reinfections were classified as patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests separated by at least 90 days plus a negative test result between both infection episodes. Primary and secondary outcomes: The primary outcome was the percentage of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections among all SARS-CoV-2 infections detected during our study period. Secondary outcomes were the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patients with SARS-CoV-2 reinfections.

Results: Of the 27,758 patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the study period, 14 were identified as coronavirus reinfection (0.050%). Of the reinfected sample, 12 patients (85.7%) were women. The median age was 41.5 years. Two patients died in the second coronavirus episode.

Conclusion: The reinfection rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the Spanish region Lleida was relatively low during the observational period in 2020 (less than 1%). These data are in line with the notion that previous SARS-CoV-2 infections may offer a significant protection by so called natural immunity.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; emergency department; reinfection.