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Observational Study
. 2021 Apr;51(4):e13520.
doi: 10.1111/eci.13520. Epub 2021 Feb 21.

SARS-CoV-2 re-infection risk in Austria

Stefan Pilz  1 , Ali Chakeri  2 , John Pa Ioannidis  3 , Lukas Richter  2 , Verena Theiler-Schwetz  1 , Christian Trummer  1 , Robert Krause  4 , Franz Allerberger  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

SARS-CoV-2 re-infection risk in Austria

Stefan Pilz et al. Eur J Clin Invest. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Background: A key question concerning coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is how effective and long lasting immunity against this disease is in individuals who were previously infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We aimed to evaluate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 re-infections in the general population in Austria.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study using national SARS-CoV-2 infection data from the Austrian epidemiological reporting system. As the primary outcome, we aim to compare the odds of SARS-CoV-2 re-infections of COVID-19 survivors of the first wave (February to April 30, 2020) versus the odds of first infections in the remainder general population by tracking polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed infections of both groups during the second wave from September 1 to November 30, 2020. Re-infection counts are tentative, since it cannot be excluded that the positive PCR in the first and/or second wave might have been a false positive.

Results: We recorded 40 tentative re-infections in 14 840 COVID-19 survivors of the first wave (0.27%) and 253 581 infections in 8 885 640 individuals of the remaining general population (2.85%) translating into an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.09 (0.07 to 0.13).

Conclusions: We observed a relatively low re-infection rate of SARS-CoV-2 in Austria. Protection against SARS-CoV-2 after natural infection is comparable with the highest available estimates on vaccine efficacies. Further well-designed research on this issue is urgently needed for improving evidence-based decisions on public health measures and vaccination strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19; PCR; Risk; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; re-infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Analysis plan for calculating the odds ratio for re‐infections versus first infections with SARS‐CoV‐2 in the general population in Austria
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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