People over 65 who have recovered from COVID-19 have a 50-50 chance of a second attack within six months of their first illness, a new study has found.
The chances are much better for younger, healthier people, but they are still not certain, according to the Danish study, which was published in the medical journal Lancet.
About 80 percent of healthy people under the age of 65 did not suffer a second attack within six months of a first COVID-19 disease, according to the study, which looked at 4,000 test subjects.
The study shows that it remains important for people who have recovered from COVID-19 to obtain increased immunity provided by vaccination – and to continue with the masking, hand washing and social detachment protocols.
“Our study confirms what several others seem to suggest: reinfection with COVID-19 is rare in younger, healthier people, but the elderly are at greater risk of contracting again,” Dr. Steen Ethelberg of the Statens Serum Institute in Denmark said in the study .
“As the elderly are also more likely to have severe symptoms of illness and, unfortunately, to die, our findings make it clear how important it is to implement policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic,” wrote Ethelberg.
“Given what is at stake, the results emphasize the importance of people adhering to the implementation of policies to protect the elderly during the pandemic.”