{"id":4568,"date":"2022-08-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=4568"},"modified":"2022-07-20T08:01:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T08:01:26","slug":"reinfection-will-be-part-of-the-pandemic-for-months-to-come-each-repeat-illness-raises-the-risk-of-long-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/reinfection-will-be-part-of-the-pandemic-for-months-to-come-each-repeat-illness-raises-the-risk-of-long-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinfection will be part of the pandemic for months to come. Each repeat illness raises the risk of long COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n \n Shutterstock\/Elizaveta Galitckaia<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nJohn Donne Potter<\/a>, Massey University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

The latest Omicron variant BA.5 is fast becoming dominant worldwide<\/a>, including in New Zealand and Australia. As it continues to surge, reinfection will become increasingly common and this in turn means more people will develop long COVID.<\/p>\n\n

The two most concerning aspects of long COVID are its high prevalence<\/a> (up to 30% of those infected) and a link between reinfection and a higher risk of harmful outcomes. <\/p>\n\n

American science writer Ed Yong, commenting on government responses to the pandemic<\/a>, described them as a case of de\u0301brouillez-vous, which approximates to \u201cyou work it out \u2013 you\u2019re on your own\u201d. <\/p>\n\n

In the face of official attitudes that are increasingly laissez-faire towards the continuing pandemic, many people no longer take even those precautions over which we have individual control: mask wearing, physical distancing and choosing carefully whether to attend crowded events. The consequences are an increase in both daily case numbers and the lurking burden of long COVID.<\/p>\n\n

Omicron\u2019s first variant, BA.1, emerged in late 2021, substantially different \u2013 clinically and genetically \u2013 from earlier variants. It displaced the Delta variant and, in early 2022, was itself replaced by BA.2. <\/p>\n\n

The degree to which BA.2 had evolved away from BA.1 is far greater than the genetic distance between the original version of SARS-CoV-2 and the Delta variant. BA.5, a sub-variant of BA.2, is now quickly overtaking other variants. <\/p>\n\n

\n \"Recent\n
\n Recent data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rapid rise of the BA.5 variant and its replacement of other Omicron variants.<\/span>\n US CDC<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Omicron variants, and BA.5 specifically, show several worrying features. They can evade immunity acquired through earlier infections<\/a> and breakthrough infections<\/a> in vaccinated people<\/a>. BA.5 is better able to infect cells, acting more like Delta<\/a> than the previous Omicron variants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we know about long COVID<\/h2>\n\n

SARS-CoV-2 is not unique in its ability to cause post-acute symptoms and organ damage. Unexplained chronic disability<\/a> occurred in a minority of patients after Ebola, dengue, polio, the original SARS and West Nile virus infections. <\/p>\n\n

What is different is the sheer size of this pandemic and the number of people affected by long COVID. One of the absolutely critical issues about long COVID is that we should not underestimate it. It is now clear from multiple large studies that:<\/p>\n\n