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HOME > Epidemiol Health > Volume 45; 2023 > Article
Brief Communication Clinical severity according to the primary infection variant in patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Korea
Myung-Jae Hwang1orcid , Insob Hwang1orcid , Chungmin Park1orcid , Hanul Park1orcid , Taejong Son1orcid , Jong-Hun Kim2orcid
Epidemiol Health 2023;45e2023007-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2023007
Published online: December 21, 2022
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1Division of Infectious Disease Response, Gyeongbuk Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Daegu, Korea
2Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
Corresponding author:  Jong-Hun Kim,
Email: kimjh32@skku.edu
Received: 26 August 2022   • Accepted: 21 December 2022
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES
We aimed to evaluate the severity of suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection according to variants of concern in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Daegu, Korea.
METHODS
The database of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases reported from epidemiological investigations through the integrated system operated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, from January 20, 2020 to May 7, 2022 was combined with data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service system. The severity odds ratio (SOR) in secondary infection episodes compared with primary infection was estimated using a generalized linear model with a binomial distribution.
RESULTS
In all patients, the SOR of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82 to 0.95), and the severity was lower than in the first infection. Patients who had been vaccinated within 91 days showed a more attenuated SOR (0.85; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98). However, despite vaccination, in patients with both primary and secondary infections caused by the Omicron variant, the severity was reduced to a lesser extent than in patients primarily infected with other variants.
CONCLUSIONS
We could make efforts to relieve the severity of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations, in which death is more likely, by recommending booster vaccinations in case of a resurgence.

Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health
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