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. 2022 Mar;27(13):2200247.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.13.2200247.

Impact of the Omicron variant on SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in France, March 2021 to February 2022

Jonathan Bastard  1 , Benjamin Taisne  1 , Julie Figoni  1 , Alexandra Mailles  1 , Julien Durand  1 , Myriam Fayad  1 , Laurence Josset  2   3 , Anna Maisa  1 , Sylvie van der Werf  4   5 , Isabelle Parent du Châtelet  1 , Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin  1
Affiliations

Impact of the Omicron variant on SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in France, March 2021 to February 2022

Jonathan Bastard et al. Euro Surveill. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Since the first reports in summer 2020, SARS-CoV-2 reinfections have raised concerns about the immunogenicity of the virus, which will affect SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology and possibly the burden of COVID-19 on our societies in the future. This study provides data on the frequency and characteristics of possible reinfections, using the French national COVID-19 testing database. The Omicron variant had a large impact on the frequency of possible reinfections in France, which represented 3.8% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases since December 2021.

Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; reinfection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of the first and second episode of infection for possible cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, and proportion of possible reinfections among all confirmed COVID-19 cases, by week of sampling, France, January 2021–February 2022 (n = 584,129)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of possible cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection reporting symptoms during the second episode of infection, stratified by time between episodes and by age, France, March 2021–February 2022 (n = 535,539)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Suspected variants in possible cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, by week of sampling, mainland France, January 2021–February 2022 (n = 302,604)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts