INCIDENCE OF COVID-19 REINFECTION: AN ANALYSIS OF OUTPATIENT-BASED DATA IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Abstract

COVID-19 reinfection cases are evidence of antibody waning in recovered individuals.  Previous studies had reported cases of COVID-19 reinfection both in hospital-based and community-based settings.  However, open access data on COVID-19 reinfection in large community-based are limited.  The present study aimed to provide the incidence of COVID-19 reinfection based on secondary data in the United States since these were the only available comprehensive data on COVID-19 reinfection in the general population.  A cross-sectional study on COVID-19 reinfection was conducted using the secondary data provided by Healthjump from COVID-19 Research Database Consortium.  Reinfection was defined as diagnosed with COVID-19 twice with ≥90 days intervals between diagnoses.  Age, gender, and region data were also explored.  A Chi-square test continued by a binary logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between parameters.  Data collecting and processing were done in the Amazon workspace.  The study revealed 3,778 reinfection cases of 116,932 COVID-19 infected cases (3.23%).  Reinfection cases were more common in females (3.35%) than males (3.23%).  Elderly subjects were the highest incidence (5.13%), followed by adults (4.14%), young adults (2.35%), and children (1.09%).  Proportion in the region of living Northeast was the highest (3.68%), compared to the South (3.49%), West (2.59%), and Midwest (2.48%).  The study concluded that the incidence of COVID-19 reinfection was 3.23%, suggesting our concern with COVID-19 management and future research to understand COVID-19 reinfection better.  The incident is more likely to occur in female and elderly patients.