Evaluation of Reinfection in COVID-19 Patients in the World: A Narrative Review

The evaluation of reinfection and the genetic structure of all human and virus genomes could help to develop programs and protocols for providing services and ultimately to prevent the disease by producing more effective vaccines. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the presence and occurrence of COVID-19 reinfection through a narrative review study.

We searched the Medline (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Ovid, and CINHAL databases. Inclusion criteria included all studies whose main purpose was to provide information about the occurrence or presence of reinfection in patients with COVID-19. An independent samples t test was used to compare the continuous outcomes between the 2 groups.

The mean duration of the first episode in the group with mild or moderate COVID-19 was 24.42±1.67 days, and it was 21.80±3.79 days in the group with severe COVID-19.  The mean duration of the second episode (reinfection) in patients with mild or moderate form was 15.38 ± 5.57 days, and it was 19.20±2.98 days in patients with severe form. In both episodes, the duration of the disease did not significantly differ between the 2 groups (p=0.484 in the first episode; p=0.675 in the second episode), but the interval to the occurrence of reinfection in patients with the mild or moderate form was significantly longer than those with the severe form (p<0.001). In this instance, the time interval in patients with the mild or moderate form was 36.63±5.71 days while in those with the severe form of the disease it was 29.70±5.65 days. Besides, the genomes of the viruses isolated from the first and second episode were different. 

According to the results, all patients should be very careful about the severity of the second episode because of the more need for medical interventions for saving the patients. The interval between the first end and the second episode as well as the duration of each episode is highly important for better management of the disease.