Key Takeaways
- Because the CDC is no longer tracking COVID cases, it’s hard to determine exactly how many people are getting sick, and how often.
- People with compromised immune systems may contract the virus more frequently.
- There’s little data on whether certain strains tend to reinfect the same people.
Officially, the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is over, but the virus that changed the world hasn’t disappeared completely. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus has entered its endemic stage, people are still contracting COVID, and new strains, including EG.5, continue to keep physicians and scientists on alert.
Now that vaccination and natural immunity from past infections are common, a new question arises: How often will the average person contract COVID? The answer is murky for a few key reasons.
Less Data Erases Averages
According to Linda Yancey, MD, infectious diseases specialist at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Texas, there is no data to establish an average number of infections per person, and there likely won’t be in the future due to the lack of standardized testing.
“This is the downside of at-home testing. On the one hand, it is so much easier for people to test themselves, so we are almost certainly getting more testing done overall,” Yancey told Verywell via email. “But we no longer have good numbers of how many people are being tested and what those results are.”
As the virus has evolved, symptoms for most healthy people have lessened in severity. While this is a great outcome, fewer people will report their illnesses or be admitted to the hospital. Plus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed their data collection, mainly tracking hospitalizations and deaths. After May 11, 2023, laboratories are no longer required to submit positive lab test results, making it even harder to measure illnesses accurately.
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COVID Repeat Offenders
Although it may be hard to determine the average number of times a person will contract COVID, some people are more susceptible and should take precautions, according to Tammy Lundstrom, MD, Chief Medical Officer and infectious disease specialist for Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan.
The same people who were at high risk at the beginning of the pandemic may also be more susceptible to multiple infections. Lundstrom told Verywell that pregnant women, those over the age of 65, and those with underlying chronic illnesses to make sure their vaccinations are up to date.
Yancey added that people undergoing chemotherapy, on long-term steroids, or any other immune-suppressing medication should also take additional precautions. Certain conditions, such as sickle cell anemia, common variable immunodeficiency, or spleen removal can also leave people vulnerable to repeat infections.
Since the virus has so many strains circulating at one time, contracting COVID multiple times is possible.
“This ability of the virus to cause multiple episodes of illness is similar to the common cold viruses and influenza,” Lundstrom said. “Generally, getting a second episode within 60 days of a prior episode or vaccination would be unusual, but it can happen.”
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Do Repeat Infections Mean Higher Risks?
Luckily, contracting COVID multiple times may not result in severe infections. Yancey said that, theoretically, the more times people are exposed to the virus, the more robust their immune response should be.
“People who have had COVID multiple times are probably more likely to get it again in the future, but less likely to get severe disease,” Yancey said.
Since most people are testing at home, which doesn’t reveal which strain of COVID they might have, there’s insufficient data to determine whether one strain is more likely to reinfect as opposed to another. In the post-emergency landscape, COVID has become like other seasonal infections—ambiguous and annoying but rarely life-threatening.
What This Means For You
Like influenza, strep, or RSV, COVID has become a seasonal illness that may strike anyone, regardless of vaccination status. Those with compromised immune systems may have a more challenging time and be reinfected. Fortunately, the virus has evolved to become less severe, and vaccination offers additional protection against serious illness. If you are high risk, take reasonable precautions, such as washing your hands frequently and staying out of crowded indoor spaces where all viruses are more likely to spread quickly.
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
1 Source
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Department of Health and Human Services. Fact sheet: COVID-19 public health emergency transition roadmap.
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By Rachel Murphy
Murphy is a Kansas City-based journalist with more than a decade of health writing experience.
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