LATEBREAKER
COVID-19 Pandemic
Association between COVID-19 re-infection and incidence of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC): a retrospective cohort study of essential workers Tesleem Babalola* Tesleem Babalola Sean Clouston Benjamin J. Luft Zennur Sekendiz
Background: Some people develop symptoms known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) that may commence after the initial recovery from acute COVID-19 infection or continue from the initial illness. PASC is an emerging phenomenon yet to be fully understood, and identifying risk factors has been challenging. Thus, this study investigates the association between SARS-CoV-2 re-infection and the incidence of PASC among essential workers enrolled at Stony Brook University World Trade Center (WTC) Health Monitoring Program.
Method: This was conducted among 2513 cohort essential workers, mainly first responders residing on Long Island, NY, with confirmed polymerase chain reaction, antibody, or antigen positive test results for SARS-CoV-2 infection as of February 2024. Participants who reported experiencing at least one of the COVID-19-related symptoms lasting ≥4 weeks were categorized as PASC group, while those who did not were classified as non-PASC group. Adjusting for demographic variables (such as age & gender), lifestyle variables (such as smoking status), anthropometric variables (such as BMI), and other COVID-19-related variables (such as infection severity), we computed Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) for the association between PASC and COVID-19 re-infection (frequency) using Poisson regression models.
Result: A total of 475 (18.9%) PASC patients were identified among the cohort. The cohort also had 403 (16%) participants with multiple COVID-19 infections. After adjusting for relevant demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, and other COVID-19-related variables, we found a significant association between increased infection/re-infection (IRR = 0.248; p =0.012), severe COVID-19 infection (IRR = 3.103; p <0.001) and risk of experiencing PASC.
Conclusion: As we continue to understand more about the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, continuous effort should be directed toward reducing reinfection and severity.