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June 3 (UPI) -- People who have had COVID-19 are unlikely to be reinfected by the coronavirus for at least 10 months, according to a study published Thursday in The Lancet. University College London researchers examined the case files of more than 2,000 nursing home residents and staff members who were tracked via antibody testing at 100 nursing homes.
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Roughly one-third of the residents and staff tested positive for antibodies, which suggests previous coronavirus infection.
Of 634 people who were infected with COVID-19, reinfections occurred in four residents and 10 staff members, compared to the 93 residents and 111 staff members who had never had the coronavirus but tested positive during the study period.
The findings revealed that residents who had COVID-19 were 85% less likely to test positive 10 months later than residents that had not had the coronavirus. Among staff, those that had tested positive were 60% less likely to receive another positive test than staff that had not already had the coronavirus.
"It's really good news that natural infection protects against reinfection in this time period. The risk of being infected twice appears to be very low," lead study author Dr. Maria Krutikov said in a press release.
"The fact that prior COVID-19 infection gives a high level of protection to care home residents is also reassuring, given past concerns that these individuals might have less robust immune responses associated with increasing age," said Krutikov, a doctoral researcher at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics.
Another study released in March found the elderly in the general population have a high risk of reinfection. Similar studies have shown a lower reinfection rate from six months to one year after first infected.
The Lancet recently published a study showing the reinfection rate is far lower -- only 10 percent -- for young adults.
Doctors have also found the risk for reinfection is low regardless of the severity of the case.
