Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
July 16, 2022
According to Public Health France, the number of cases of reinfections with SARS-CoV-2 continues to increase. However, they seem less serious. Update with Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo.
Thursday, July 7, Public Health France announced that the number of cases of reinfections continued to increase. It now accounts for 12% of cases.
Covid-19: the number of re-infected people has increased significantly
In total, the reinfection rate accounted for “4.1% of all confirmed cases of Covid-19″ between March 2, 2021 and June 12, 2022, said the National Public Health Agency in its weekly update. But this proportion has increased sharply since December 2021: it was 0.7% until December 5, 2021 and 4.8% since December 6, 2021.
But for Vincent Auvigne, epidemiologist from Public Health France, this increase in possible cases of reinfection is not a surprise:
“The rise has been continuous since the arrival of the Omicron wave”he said at a press conference.
Since March 2021, the overwhelming majority of reinfection cases (93.5%)”were indeed suspected Omicron variants”.
A risk of reinfection that reaches a plateau around 6 months after the first infection
Another interesting fact:the probability of reinfection increases with the age of the first infection to reach a plateau about six months after the first infection”underlines the agency.
As a reminder, Public Health France defines a reinfection as a new infection that has occurred at least 60 days after a primary infection that has occurred since January 2021. The organization also specifies that the persons concerned “must present at least two positive tests recorded in the SIDEP database”.
But how then to explain this increase in cases of reinfection? Asked by AtlanticoAntoine Flahault, epidemiologist and director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva, believes that “Omicron infection appears to confer very little residual immunity. (…) Omicron passing under the radar of our immune system, it does not allow the body to defend itself effectively in the event of a subsequent attack, including with the same variant. However, this is not an all or nothing law, some people still keep a memory of the passage of Omicron in their body, but this memory seems to fade quickly.“.
Consult a GP online
Covid-19: are reinfections more serious?
Regarding this concern, Dr Gérald Kierzek adds:
“Covid-19 reinfections are not necessarily more serious. The only case where this poses a problem concerns the most fragile people. Among this population, a second infection linked to an immune escape can be more complicated to tolerate, we may be more tired… but the variant is not so much in question as the pre-existing precarious state of health”wants to reassure Dr. Kierzek.