The highly transmissible nature of the omicron BA.5 subvariant and the ability to evade immunity is prompting health experts to review previous assumptions about the typical time period between COVID-19 infections, reported The Wall Street Journal on July 19th.
According to the CDC definition, the window for a new COVID-19 infection is 90 days, which means that any symptoms of COVID-19 or positive tests during this time period are considered the same infection, according to the Journal.
As BA.5 spreads around the world, epidemiologists and infectious disease experts are closely monitoring whether reinfections occur more frequently and more closely over time.
“The superpower of this new variant is reinfection,” said Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, in the Journal, adding that the standard of 90 days is “completely out the window.” “
Early data from Helix, a lab that helps the CDC with viral surveillance, suggest that COVID-19 reinfections are becoming more common in the U.S., but are not occurring more quickly. Helix found that the average time between infections has increased from 230 days in April to 270 days in July, although more research and data collection is needed to fully understand the trend as the increase in BA continues.5 .