August 31, 2023 – Close and prolonged contact with an individual with COVID-19 can greater than quadruple the chance of contracting the virus, a recent study confirms. There can also be a better – but barely lower – risk amongst people who find themselves vaccinated, have had a previous infection, or each.
Led by health researchers at Yale University, the study was published within the magazine this month Nature communication. The authors addressed the problem because, although vaccinations and former infections are known to supply some protection against infection, the virus has sometimes still been capable of evade immunity. Scientists call this “leaky” protection.
The recent findings support a long-held theory that infection is more more likely to rely on how much virus an individual is exposed to and for a way long.
Designing a study to guage that is difficult, so the authors decided it will be best to conduct their study in 13 correctional facilities. The facilities were all in Connecticut and conducted regular COVID testing on residents with and without symptoms. The researchers analyzed the chance of somebody contracting the virus based on where they lived in relation to an infected person, akin to in the identical cell or cell block.
The likelihood of infection was also higher depending on whether an individual was vaccinated, had a previous infection, or each. The study took place from June 2021 to May 2022, when the Delta and Omicron virus variants were widespread. During this era, roughly 15,000 people spent at the least one night in a facility, 48% of individuals had accomplished the first vaccination series and 27% received a booster vaccination.
The researchers found that throughout the Omicron period, individuals who shared a cell with an infected person were almost five times more more likely to even be infected, and that individuals who lived in the identical cell block were almost 4 times more more likely to be infected . While prior infection, vaccination, or each reduced an individual's risk of getting COVID-19, individuals who shared a cell with an infected person were still at significantly increased risk.
The authors wrote that the findings make a case for continued contact tracing, particularly in places where people live close together, akin to prisons or nursing homes. They said such tracing should include not only people sharing a room, but in addition individuals who were together during leisure or dining. The results also suggest the continued advantages of social distancing, quarantine and isolation, masking, and improved ventilation and air circulation, they wrote.
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, an immunobiologist at Yale who was not involved within the study, recounted Nature that the results of the study “just makes intuitive sense.” But now there’s evidence of this [measures] will likely be necessary in making the immunity provided by the vaccine give you the results you want.”