Compounding issues like increased comorbidities and lower access to proper medical care can be destructive for those who get Covid multiple times.
After contracting Covid for the third time, in May 2022, S. Monet Wahls noticed that her usual fall and winter cough became a perpetual, year-round hacking. Respiratory issues made sleeping at night challenging.
Lingering, chronic symptoms like Wahls\u2019 illustrate the potential effect of multiple cases of Covid on one person, doctors told NBC News. While there seems to be a range of experiences each time a person gets Covid, Dr. Geoffrey Mount Varner, an emergency room physician in Maryland and Virginia, said Black people should be vigilant about avoiding multiple Covid infections. Left unchecked, the effects of the virus could devastate Black communities.
\u201cSome of the data clearly showed that Covid impacted Blacks disproportionately, so it only makes sense that it\u2019s going to be the same with multiple infections because there are so many people who had it,\u201d Varner said. \u201cAnd because we have more comorbidities such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity \u2014 the main drivers in terms of having a negative impact as it relates to Covid \u2014 with multiple infections the data is showing that each infection is like a health insult that will manifest itself more in the hardest-hit community, which is Black people. So, you have a sick person getting this virus more than once and the outcome is going to be different, more harmful, than white counterparts.\u201d
According to a wide-reaching meta-analysis published in 2021, Black people diagnosed with Covid were more likely to be admitted to intensive care units.
\u201cI\u2019m already living with the aftermath of Covid,\u201d said Wahls, a business consultant in Brooklyn, New York. \u201cThe health issues I had have increased to serious levels. So, people like me, who had a near-death experience with Covid and has had it two other times \u2026 we know of the effects of it going through your body and causing problems you didn\u2019t have before having Covid.\u201d
The virus strongly affects Black people, who often live in areas where access to quality health care is not easily available. The lower likelihood of having health insurance and decreased access to clinical care only exacerbated the effects of Covid among Blacks and Latinos, creating a cycle of hardships that could stunt family growth, said Dr. Jayne Morgan, a cardiologist and the executive director of the Covid task force at Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta.
\u201cIf you\u2019re a Black person and you get Covid multiple times, you\u2019re talking about increasing your chances of disability,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about your inability to take care of your family because you have these Covid-related health challenges.\u201d
William Matos, an attorney in Atlanta, had Covid three times, the first and harshest case of migraines and body aches around Christmas 2021. \u201cIt was murderous,\u201d he said. Matos got the vaccination and booster shot, and his other cases of the coronavirus were not as severe \u2014 more like allergies, he said \u2014 but he said he is concerned about what could happen in the future.
\u201cThe impact of long Covid lingers,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople said it would be like the flu. Well, you get the flu and you get over it, hopefully, and you move on. That\u2019s not what doctors are telling us about what they are seeing with Covid. You get it multiple times and it\u2019s doing something to the body that the flu hasn\u2019t.\u201d
Morgan, the cardiologist, said: \u201cThe omicron variant is smart enough to confirm mild symptoms and give people a false sense of security, but stealth enough to be the most infectious variant we\u2019ve had. It\u2019s so incredibly successful, infecting people over and over again and making people say, \u2018Oh, this is nothing.\u2019 But it keeps swirling around. Reinfection doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that you\u2019ll be protected from the next evolution of the variants, which are hurting people now. So people have to take protective measures over reckless behavior, which, we are seeing now, is not without consequences.\u201d
Some of those protective measures, Varner said, are well known, like wearing a mask in public, crowded places; thorough washing of hands; and getting the vaccine and booster shots. He added that vitamins and minerals may also help fight against Covid.
\u201cVitamins like C and D, as well as zinc, have been shown to enhance immunity,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople should consider consulting with a health care professional to determine their specific needs and the appropriate supplements for them.\u201d
He also said consistent physical activity and exercise like a brisk walk or home workout could strengthen the immune system. Varner added that seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night is a \u201cvital aspect of maintaining a strong immune system.\u201d
He also pointed to drinking plenty of water to help \u201cwith the production of white and red blood cell lines.\u201d
Morgan said these concerns of Covid would be minimized if the population had, en masse, taken the vaccine options to achieve\u2002herd immunity, which is when a dominant faction of the population becomes immune to a disease.
\u201cThis became a political football \u2026 and science didn\u2019t have a voice or very weakened voice, a soft voice,\u201d she said. \u201cScience wasn\u2019t ready for a virus in the era of social media, which took over the narrative of what was going on with Covid instead of the voices of the doctors. Everyone was spreading all kinds of theories \u2014 while the disease spread.\u201d
Varner said the messaging to Black people on the harms of multiple infections \u2014 as well as the importance of getting the vaccinations \u2014 has to change.
\u201cIt has been consistently clear that when you send a message through people who look like the person you\u2019re trying to capture, the message goes through easier, is accepted better,\u201d Varner said. \u201cThe messaging has not changed at all. And there does not appear to be a focused effort to reach Black folks who don\u2019t have easy access to Wi-Fi or people who may not have as much access to true medical knowledge. All of this makes us more vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n