1. COVID-19 Reinfection Has Better Outcomes Than the First Infection in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients.
- Author
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Solera JT, Árbol BG, Mittal A, Hall VG, Marinelli T, Bahinskaya I, Humar A, and Kumar D
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Hospitalization statistics & numerical data, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Treatment Outcome, COVID-19 epidemiology, COVID-19 prevention & control, Organ Transplantation adverse effects, Reinfection epidemiology, Transplant Recipients statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Background: Solid organ transplant recipients face an increased risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and are vulnerable to repeat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. In nonimmunocompromised individuals, SARS-CoV-2 reinfections are milder likely because of cross-protective immunity. We sought to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 reinfection exhibits milder manifestations than primary infection in transplant recipients., Methods: Using a large, prospective cohort of adult transplant patients with COVID-19, we identified patients with SARS-CoV-2 reinfections. We performed a 1:1 nearest neighbor propensity score matching to control potential confounders, including the COVID-19 variant. We compared outcomes including oxygen requirement, hospitalization, and intensive care unit admission within 30 d after diagnosis between patients with reinfection and those with the first episode of COVID-19., Results: Between 2020 and 2023, 103 reinfections were identified in a cohort of 1869 transplant recipients infected with SARS-CoV-2 (incidence of 2.7% per year). These included 50 kidney (48.5%), 27 lung (26.2%), 7 heart (6.8%), 6 liver (5.8%), and 13 multiorgan (12.6%) transplants. The median age was 54.5 y (interquartile range [IQR], 40.5-65.5) and the median time from transplant to first infection was 6.6 y (IQR, 2.8-11.2). The time between the primary COVID-19 and reinfection was 326 d (IQR, 226-434). Three doses or more of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine are received by 87.4% of patients. After propensity score matching, reinfections were associated with significantly lower hospitalization (5.8% versus 19.4%; risk ratio, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.12-0.71) and oxygen requirement (3.9% versus 13.6%; risk ratio, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.10-0.84). In a within-patient analysis only in the reinfection group, the second infection was milder than the first (3.9% required oxygen versus 19.4%, P < 0.0001), and severe first COVID-19 was the only predictor of severe reinfection., Conclusions: Transplant recipients with COVID-19 reinfection present better outcomes than those with the first infection, providing clinical evidence for the development of cross-protective immunity., Competing Interests: D.K. has received clinical trials grants from GSK and Roche and consultancy fees from GSK, Roche, Merck, Takeda, and Exevir. A.H. has received clinical trials grants from Merck and consultancy fees from Merck and Takeda. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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