Can the Vaccinated Develop Long Covid After a Breakthrough Infection?

[MisterNiceKitty]

While the vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness and death, the risk of developing post-Covid health problems after a breakthrough infection isn’t known.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/well/live/vaccine-long-covid-breakthrough-infection.html

By Tara Parker-Pope
Published Aug. 16, 2021
Updated Aug. 17, 2021

"While some breakthrough cases among those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are inevitable, they are unlikely to result in hospitalization or death. But one important question about breakthrough infection that remains unanswered is: Can the vaccinated develop so-called long Covid?

Long Covid refers to a set of symptoms — such as severe fatigue, brain fog, headache, muscle pain and sleep problems — that can persist for weeks or months after the active infection has ended. The syndrome is poorly understood, but studies suggest that between 10 and 30 percent of adults who catch the virus may experience long Covid, including those who experienced only mild illness or no symptoms at all.

But the vast majority of data collected about long Covid has been in the unvaccinated population. The risk of developing long Covid for the fully vaccinated who get infected after vaccination hasn’t been studied.

While preliminary research suggests that it is, in fact, possible for a breakthrough case to lead to symptoms that can persist for weeks to months, there are still more questions than answers. What percent of breakthrough cases result in lingering symptoms? How many of those people recover? Are the persistent symptoms after breakthrough infection as severe as those that occur in the unvaccinated?

“I just don’t think there is enough data,” said Dr. Zijian Chen, medical director at the Center for Post-Covid Care at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. “It’s too early to tell. The population of people getting sick post vaccination isn’t that high right now, and there’s no good tracking mechanism for these patients.”

One recent study of Israeli health care workers published in the New England Journal of Medicine offers a glimpse of the risk of long Covid after a breakthrough infection. Among 1,497 fully vaccinated health care workers, 39 of them — about 2.6 percent — developed breakthrough infections. (All of the workers were believed to be infected after contact with an unvaccinated person, and the study was conducted before the Delta variant became dominant.)

While most of the breakthrough cases were mild or asymptomatic, seven out of 36 workers tracked at six weeks (19 percent) still had persistent symptoms. These long Covid symptoms included a mix of prolonged loss of smell, persistent cough, fatigue, weakness, labored breathing or muscle pain.

[intrepidity]

1. Such an important issue, that too many are not taking seriously enough imho

We won't know for certain for a long time, but logic tells me that *if* long haul involves immune system misbehaving, which to me seems likely, then having a breakthrough infection sort of primes that pump. Perhaps if/since the infection is attenuated, the resulting immune dysfunction will be similarly attenuated? Time will tell, but why take the risk?

[qazplm135]

2. Six plus weeks in

And still have mild headaches and some sleep issues so definitely something concerning.

And I was a guy who for my 51 years could count the number of headaches I've had in the single digits.

[MisterNiceKitty]

4. I hope you can soon put that behind you

[roamer65]

3. I remember it cleared up for some who were vaccinated after having the virus.

Will be interesting to see if a booster shot does the same.

[Ms. Toad]

5. One of the many things that bug the crap out of me

about the "I'm vaccinated so I'm not gonna die. Don't you dare ask me to wear a mask" crowd.

It completely ignores the unpredictable and serious consequence that fall far short of death.

[Scrivener7]

6. This is the big question. And that answer is a bit disappointing.