“Research has shown that Covid reinfection substantially increases an individual’s risk of death, hospitalization, and health consequences from long Covid. For example, the risk of cardiovascular disorders increases from 1.6 with one infection, to 3.0 with two infections and 4.8 with three or more infections.
“It’s demonstrating that it’s not like you have Covid once and then if you don’t get acutely ill or you don’t develop long Covid from that first infection that the coast is clear,” said Czeisler, who was not involved in the study.
Other risk factors for long Covid include older age, being female, tobacco use, higher body mass index, and experiencing more symptoms during the acute Covid-19 illness. Being vaccinated prior to infection has been associated with a decreased risk of long Covid, according to previous research.”
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