” We found that, prior to the development of the omicron version, natural immunity offered a comparable degree of protection against COVID-19 infection as mRNA vaccination,” said Ari Robicsek, M.D., Providences primary medical analytics officer and senior author of the study. “That said, vaccination is a considerably safer way to acquire that resistance.”
Performed by a team of specialist clinicians and scientists within the Providence Research Network, the study analyzed data from over 100,000 patients checked for SARS-COV-2 at 1,300 sites of care across Providences extensive health care system between October 1, 2020 and November 1, 2021. The researchers observed that previous COVID-19 infection was 85% protective against reinfection and 88% protective versus hospitalization, with security from reinfection lasting for up to nine months following the initial infection, as far out as they were able to study.
The Providence research study, one of the largest of its type, shows the importance of connecting scientists with large scale healthcare data, and the impact an interconnected health system can have in comprehending specific public health challenges. The research study is distinct not only in scale, but in its extensive follow-up duration, and addition of only unvaccinated people with symptomatic COVID-19.
” This information is essential to assisting us comprehend the strength and longevity of natural resistance and enables us to compare the effectiveness of a prior infection with mRNA vaccines,” said Amy Compton-Phillips, M.D., Providences primary medical officer. “The results offer brand-new insight into the length of security following a preliminary infection among the unvaccinated population and could have essential implications for vaccination guidelines and public health policy.”
Referral: “Rates of COVID-19 Among Unvaccinated Adults With Prior COVID-19” by Jessica P. Ridgway, MD; Samuel Tideman, MS; Bill Wright, PhD and Ari Robicsek, MD, 20 April 2022, JAMA Network Open.DOI: 10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2022.7650.
According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, the level of protection provided by a previous symptomatic COVID-19 infection amongst unvaccinated patients was equivalent to that provided by mRNA vaccinations, with natural immunity offering a longer window of defense than mRNA vaccines.
Researchers took a look at COVID-19 resistance prior to development of the omicron variation to help inform vaccine and infection control policy.
A study launched in JAMA Network Open by investigators at Providence, among the biggest health systems in the United States, and the University of Chicago, discovered that the level of protection granted by a previous symptomatic COVID-19 infection amongst unvaccinated people was on par with the level of security supplied by mRNA vaccines, with natural resistance providing a longer window of defense than mRNA vaccines. The study was conducted prior to the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron version in the United States.
Prior COVID-19 infection was found to be 85% protective against reinfection and 88% protective against hospitalization, with defense from reinfection persisting for approximately 9 months after the preliminary infection, as far as the researchers had the ability to explore.