Seasonal coronavirus reinfection occurs frequently, study finds
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Reinfection with seasonal coronaviruses occurs frequently, according to study results published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The study also suggested that anti-spike protein binding antibodies do not correlate with protection from seasonal coronavirus infection, researchers said.
“Clinicians should still have a suspicion for SARS-CoV-2 infections in their patients with acute respiratory infections, even if that patient was previously infected,” Josh G. Petrie, PhD, a research assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, told Healio. “Given the behavior of the seasonal coronaviruses and the fact that past pandemic influenza viruses have become endemic, it is likely that we will continue to have SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”
Petrie and colleagues analyzed 1,004 seasonal coronavirus infections among 3,418 patients in a cohort of households with children receiving primary care from Michigan Medicine. Of these patients, 40% were followed for 3 years or more. Patients’ households were assessed annually for seasonal coronaviruses, and serum tests were conducted for SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins.
Of the 1,004 seasonal coronavirus infections, 30% were reinfections of any type of coronavirus, the researchers reported. The number of coronavirus infections ranged between one and 13 per patient.
The level of binding antibodies to seasonal coronaviruses were high, increased little after infection and were consistent over time, according to the study. Preinfection antibody levels had no significant effect on the odds of infection.
Petrie said the study’s limitations include in inability to determine if antibodies bound to coronavirus proteins had an effect on virus replication.
“While our findings about seasonal coronavirus reinfections might give us clues as to how SARS-CoV-2 will behave in the future, it will be important to continue to monitor the virus itself and how it behaves as population immunity increases through vaccination and infection,” he said.
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