The danger of developing long COVID is significantly lower following an infection with the Omicron variant than after an infection with earlier coronavirus variants. This was the finding of a study by University Medicine Halle, which was published within the “International Journal of Infectious Diseases”. The evaluation checked out information gathered from 11,000 people about their infection history, vaccination status, and post-infection symptoms. The info provide strong evidence that the danger for long-term effects after a re-infection with the coronavirus is lower if the patient didn’t develop long COVID after the initial infection.
Long-term symptoms can develop after a coronavirus infection. This is often known as “long COVID” or “Post COVID-19 condition”. The underlying risk aspects are currently under intensive investigation. “We wanted to grasp the connection between long COVID and different coronavirus variants, vaccinations, and past infections,” explains Sophie Diexer, first writer of the brand new study and researcher on the Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics at University Medicine Halle. “Our study shows that the proportion of people that develop long COVID symptoms after an infection was lowest on the time when Omicron was prevalent.” The danger was found to be around three to 4 times lower after an Omicron infection than after an infection with the wild-type variant. Around half of all wild-type infected individuals reported persisting symptoms. It ought to be noted, nonetheless, that nearly all of all infections occurred while Omicron was dominant. “In purely numerical terms, because of this most individuals developed long COVID following an Omicron infection,” says Diexer.
The study also provides strong evidence of a protective effect once the patient has recovered from a coronavirus infection. “Individuals who didn’t develop persistent symptoms after their initial infection had a significantly lower risk of developing long COVID following re-infection than individuals who were infected with the coronavirus for the primary time. We were surprised by the dimensions of this effect,” explains the researcher. Nevertheless, the scientists were unable to display that, within the event of a vaccine breakthrough, the vaccine had any protective effect against long COVID. Resulting from the timing of the study, nonetheless, it was impossible to research the vaccine that specifically targeted the Omicron variant.
The study relies on the Germany-wide DigiHero project, which greater than 48,000 people participated in until June 2022. “Studies have already checked out the connection between the danger of long COVID and different variants, but none has taken under consideration infection history,” explains Professor Rafael Mikolajczyk, director of the Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics at University Medicine Halle. “Of the respondents, roughly 11,000 reported no less than one coronavirus infection that had occurred within the twelve weeks prior to when the information was collected for our study. Classification was based on the predominant variant on the time of the reported infection.” Participants were questioned about 24 typical long COVID symptoms, with 2,822 individuals reporting that that they had experienced such symptoms. Of those, 406 (14 per cent) reported experiencing severe fatigue, 237 (8 percent ) severe headaches, and 202 (7 per cent) severe shortness of breath. The intensity of the symptoms was not related to the coronavirus variant.
Follow-up surveys are currently being conducted to explore the persistence of long COVID symptoms. “Along with possible long-term symptoms following a coronavirus infection, DigiHero is addressing a wide selection of health issues and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” adds Mikolajczyk. On the idea of DigiHero, University Medicine Halle has also launched the Long COVID Registry in cooperation with Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the Rechts der Isar Hospital of the TUM School of Medicine. The registry records, for instance, long COVID symptoms in addition to their progression, severity and alleviation through specific therapies.
Background
DigiHero is a Germany-wide, population-based digital health research study (www.medizin.uni-halle.de/digihero). Thus far, over 90,000 people from 14 German states have registered. Participants are invited to finish online surveys that explore issues surrounding the event of chronic disease, healthy aging, health behaviors, and the coronavirus. Five clinics and 4 institutes from University Medicine Halle are collaborating. Other project partners include Jena University Hospital, the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS, and the University of Bremen.
Source:
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Journal reference:
Diexer, S., et al. (2023) Association between Virus Variants, Vaccination, Previous Infections, and Post COVID-19 Risk. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2023.08.019.