What it's like to have COVID-19 at least 5 times

Grace McComsey, vice dean for clinical and translational research at Case Western University, said she's seen some patients get COVID-19 over and over again. "I've seen a few patients with five infections," she said. "Sadly, they were immunized and they still got Covid five times."

Reanna Sunford Clark, a 47-year-old daycare teacher in Oregon, said she's had COVID-19 six times. "It does make me concerned that I have this predisposition to it," she said.

Clark noted that, given her job, "it makes sense that I am exposing myself to a more likely source — but on the flip side of that, I feel like I've had it so many times, I should have more immunity than I do."

Clark's first infection in November 2021 put her in the ED with shortness of breath, but her infections since then have generally brought on cold-like symptoms that ended within three or four days, she said.

"Every time I've gotten it, I've had a sore throat," Clark said.

Three of the people interviewed by NBC News said their subsequent infections were less severe than their first, but even so, having COVID-19 was still mentally and emotionally exhausting.

However, Brenda Keele, a 38-year-old living in Wyoming, said her COVID-19 symptoms got worse with each infection, with her fifth infection being her most severe, as she experienced body aches and trouble breathing.

At its worst, Keele said she could barely walk and felt "like every single one of my lymph nodes in my body is swollen and painful." In the two weeks since she stopped testing positive for the disease, Keele said her symptoms have improved but she does still have lingering congestion.

Keele also has chronic heart failure and adrenal insufficiency, so she takes medications that compromise her immune system. She added that her heart condition has declined in the past year and a half, but doctors are unsure if COVID-19 is the cause.

According to McComsey, severe COVID-19 infections could be more likely if a lot of time has lapsed since a person's most recent COVID-19 vaccine or if they were exposed to a high viral load.

Keele was vaccinated but did not receive booster shots. Everyone else interviewed received at least one booster following their original vaccinations.

Emily, a 36-year-old singer in Brooklyn, said all five of her COVID-19 infections were fairly mild, but she noticed her symptoms seemed to be more severe if multiple months had passed since her most recent COVID-19 shot.

Emily said her third infection in May 2022, which was six months after her booster shot, was her worst. "This was more of a body ache, feverish feeling," she said. "I felt laid out for about a week."

Kiah Williams, a 27-year-old personal trainer in England, thinks his job exposed him to more COVID-19 than other people. He added that his fourth infection came with only one symptom — a runny nose — while his fifth came with only a sore throat.

However, even with mild symptoms, many of those interviewed by NBC News said getting COVID-19 multiple times was mentally exhausting. Williams said every time he got sick, he had to take time away from the gym and isolate from his partner.

"Getting sick every other month, it really took a toll on my mental health," Williams said. "Not being able to even just sit with my partner, just be with her, just talk, because essentially I can't get her sick, well — it was just a lonely time."

Makenzie Boyle, a 28-year-old human resources administrator in San Francisco, said she ended up in the ED and was diagnosed with pneumonia when she was first infected with COVID-19 in December 2020. A year later, she was diagnosed with diabetes, which her doctors said was a result of COVID-19.

Boyle's third bout with the disease exacerbated symptoms lingering from her first infection, like fatigue and swelling in her extremities. And after her fifth infection in June, Boyle said she developed chronic kidney disease and chest pain that hasn't subsided.

As a result of her symptoms and how frequently she's gotten sick, Boyle said she continues to mask in crowded places and asks family members to take COVID-19 tests before seeing her — precautions that Boyle said can be isolating.

"Most of my peers are spending the weekends at the bar, at the club, out with friends, going to concerts, and I am by and large isolated and alone," she said.

Boyle said her boyfriend is moving out of their shared home, as he works in food service and they don't want to risk exposing Boyle to another infection.

Why do some people get COVID-19 multiple times?

According to CDC, between September 2021 and December 2022, there were more than 2.7 million COVID-19 reinfections in a set of regions containing around 45% of the U.S. population.

Experts say it's unsurprising people have gotten COVID-19 multiple times, given how widely the virus has spread and how frequently surges happen.

"The virus continued to mutate, so it has a way of escaping immunity," said Miriam Merad, chair of the department of immunology and immunotherapy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

According to McComsey, there aren't always easy explanations for why someone has gotten COVID-19 more than once, but there are some factors that could play a part, including whether they're immunocompromised.

Merad also noted that COVID-19 can trigger inflammation in people with underlying health issues, which could contribute to severe symptoms even if their viral infection isn't especially aggressive.

Having long COVID can also make someone more likely to be infected again, McComsey said, since it's associated with inflammation and blood clots. Studies have found that at least 10% of COVID-19 cases have led to long COVID, though that rate is higher among those hospitalized with the disease.

According to Merad, while reinfections do bring new risk of developing long COVID, young, healthy people shouldn't panic about getting the disease more than once.

"We are going to be reinfected, the same way we are reinfected by flu," Merad said. "But the most severe infection was the one that we observed when we were not vaccinated." (Bendix, NBC News, 10/8)

Several health systems have set up dedicated recovery clinics to help treat and coordinate care for long-haulers. This resource provides an overview of COVID-19 recovery clinic models pioneered by two early adopters — The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the University of Pennsylvania Medicine — and considerations for assessing whether it is a model you should pursue.