New study from United States highlights severity of contracting COVID-19 more than once.

The research published by Benjamin Bowe, Dr. Yan Xie, and Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, in the journal Nature Medicine, examined the US Department of Veterans Affairs data of approximately 5.8 million individuals. It included those not infected with the virus, those who had tested positive once, and people infected up to four times. Findings showed that repeated COVID-19 infections led to a three-times higher risk of hospitalization, doubled the chance of death, and increased the likelihood of experiencing lung, brain, and heart problems. The risk for all harmful effects goes up with each infection. Researchers encourage people to wear masks in public, regardless of vaccine status and previous COVID-19 sickness.