March 10, 2023: Healthcare personnel infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were less likely to experience prolonged and severe COVID symptoms than those with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to new studies in Switzerland.
The findings, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases convention in April and have been peer-reviewed, showed that other people inflamed with the original “wild” virus circulating in the early months of the pandemic still had persistent post-COVID symptoms 18 months later. At the same time, reinfection with Omicron in this organization does not appear to increase its long-term COVID risks.
“In a young and healthy population, the risk of COVID spread after Omicron infection, regardless of vaccination status, is very low,” Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. S. Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. S. Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. S. S. S. Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. S. Philipp Kohler, MD, of St. S. S. PhilipGallen Cantonal Hospital and principal investigator of the study.
“This knowledge suggests that the long wave of COVID after Omicron infection will be as devastating as many feared. “
The most recent findings build on previous research, adding a paper published in The Lancet, which showed that the long-term COVID threat decreases with Omicron compared to the Delta variant. Another study published in Nature Communications comparing the same variants also found a long-term symptom threat decrease with Omicron 3 months after a positive test.
In the Swiss study, which has not yet been submitted to a medical journal for publication, Kohler and colleagues followed 1201 fitness staff members from nine national fitnesscare networks. Their prestige of vaccination was monitored and symptoms were compared to an uninfected group.
“Adjusting this ‘background noise’ is very important because it helps unravel the effect of prolonged COVID from other conditions, which are not unusual in the general population and cause symptoms similar to those of prolonged COVID, such as fatigue,” Kohler said.
Healthcare staff completed online questionnaires 3 times over the next 2 years to find out if they had prolonged COVID symptoms and how tired they were. Eighteen symptoms were covered, with loss of smell or taste, fatigue and weakness, exhaustion and exhaustion, and hair. with the loss being the maximum problems reported.
In the study, those who tested positive for the original virus had a 67% higher risk of long-term COVID symptoms in a March 2021 survey compared to the control organization of participants who were not infected. Although symptoms subsided over time, they were still available 18 months later.
Meanwhile, the chances of developing prolonged COVID among staff whose first infection with Omicron did not appear to be greater than those who had never contracted COVID-19, the researchers found. Participants’ fatigue rates were also comparable between the inflamed and non-inflamed groups. .
“We can only speculate on the explanation for why this,” Carol Strahm, MD, an infectious disease specialist and one of the researchers involved in the study, said in a statement. He added that this may be because Omicron is less likely to cause more severe illness than the original virus, as well as immunity acquired by past exposure, adding asymptomatic infections that never led to antibody progression.
Kohler noted that the length of his pattern is not very large and that the organization of the study did not reflect the general population in a broad sense. The elderly, those with other physical conditions and the unvaccinated may not have the same outcomes, he said.
Linda Geng, MD, co-director of Stanford University’s Center for Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, who was not involved in the Swiss study, said that while there are studies suggesting that long-term COVID risks could decrease due to Omicron infections compared to previous variants, it still sees many new patients.
“At our Long COVID clinic, we still see many long cases of COVID that evolved after more recent infections,” Geng, who is also the number one clinical assistant professor of care and population fitness medicine at the university, said in an email.
“We also don’t know what the long term holds in terms of how the virus evolves and how it has an effect on the long-term COVID threat. The only guarantee that opposes prolonged COVID is not to contract COVID.
In the future, the Swiss team plans to continue tracking participants to see if other people inflamed with the original strain still have symptoms about 3 years later.
SOURCES:
Philipp Kohler, MD, St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland.
Carol Strahm, MD, infection specialist, St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland.
Linda Geng, MD, co-director, Center for Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford Health Care, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases: “Prolonged covid is much less likely after omicron than after the variant circulating at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “
Nature Communications: , “Post-covid Medical Complaints After Infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron vs Delta Variants. “
The Lancet: “Long-term COVID threat related to delta variants rather than omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. “
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