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COVID-19 Infection Granted Unvaccinated People Strong, Long-Lasting Protection on Par With mRNA Vaccines

According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, the level of protection offered by a past symptomatic COVID-19 infection among unvaccinated patients was comparable to that provided by mRNA vaccinations, with natural immunity giving a longer window of protection than mRNA vaccines.

Researchers looked at COVID-19First identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It has spread globally, resulting in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>COVID-19 immunity prior to emergence of the omicron variant to help inform vaccine and infection control policy.

A study released in JAMA Network Open by investigators at Providence, one of the largest health systems in the United States, and the University of ChicagoFounded in 1890, the University of Chicago (UChicago, U of C, or Chicago) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Located on a 217-acre campus in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, near Lake Michigan, the school holds top-ten positions in various national and international rankings. UChicago is also well known for its professional schools: Pritzker School of Medicine, Booth School of Business, Law School, School of Social Service Administration, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, Divinity School and the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>University of Chicago, found that the level of protection granted by a prior symptomatic COVID-19 infection among unvaccinated individuals was on par with the level of protection provided by mRNA vaccines, with natural immunity providing a longer window of protection than mRNA vaccines. The study was conducted before the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant in the United States.

Prior COVID-19 infection was found to be 85% protective against reinfection and 88% protective against hospitalization, with protection from reinfection persisting for up to nine months after the initial infection, as far as the researchers were able to explore.

“We found that, before the emergence of the omicron variant, natural immunity provided a similar degree of protection against COVID-19 infection as mRNA vaccination,” said Ari Robicsek, M.D., Providence’s chief medical analytics officer and senior author of the study. “That said, vaccination is a considerably safer way to acquire that immunity.”

Conducted by a team of expert clinicians and scientists within the Providence Research Network, the study examined data from over 100,000 patients tested for SARS-COV-2 at 1,300 sites of care across Providence’s extensive health care system between October 1, 2020 and November 1, 2021. The researchers observed that prior COVID-19 infection was 85% protective against reinfection and 88% protective against hospitalization, with protection from reinfection lasting for up to nine months following the initial infection, as far out as they were able to study.

The Providence study, one of the largest of its type, exhibits the importance of connecting researchers with large scale health care data, and the influence an interconnected health system can have in understanding specific public health challenges. The study is unique not only in scale, but in its extensive follow-up period, and inclusion of only unvaccinated individuals with symptomatic COVID-19.

“This data is key to helping us understand the strength and longevity of natural immunity and allows us to compare the effectiveness of a prior infection with mRNA vaccines,” said Amy Compton-Phillips, M.D., Providence’s chief clinical officer. “The results provide new insight into the length of protection following an initial infection among the unvaccinated population and could have important implications for vaccination guidelines and public health policy.”

Reference: “Rates of COVID-19 Among Unvaccinated Adults With Prior COVID-19” by Jessica P. Ridgway, MD; Samuel Tideman, MS; Bill Wright, PhD and Ari Robicsek, MD, 20 April 2022, JAMA Network Open.
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.7650

Source: SciTechDaily