Severe Fatigue and Persistent Symptoms at 3 Months Following Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infections during the Pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron Time Periods: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

  • Michael Gottlieb
  • , Ralph C. Wang
  • , Huihui Yu
  • , Erica S. Spatz
  • , Juan Carlos C. Montoy
  • , Robert M. Rodriguez
  • , Anna Marie Chang
  • , Joann G. Elmore
  • , Paavali A. Hannikainen
  • , Mandy Hill
  • , Ryan M. Huebinger
  • , Ahamed H. Idris
  • , Zhenqiu Lin
  • , Katherine Koo
  • , Samuel McDonald
  • , Kelli N. O'Laughlin
  • , Ian D. Plumb
  • , Michelle Santangelo
  • , Sharon Saydah
  • , Michael Willis
  • Lauren E. Wisk, Arjun Venkatesh, Kari A. Stephens, Robert A. Weinstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Most research on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants focuses on initial symptomatology with limited longer-Term data. We characterized prevalences of prolonged symptoms 3 months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection across 3 variant time-periods (pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron). Methods: This multicenter prospective cohort study of adults with acute illness tested for SARS-CoV-2 compared fatigue severity, fatigue symptoms, organ system-based symptoms, and ≥3 symptoms across variants among participants with a positive ("COVID-positive") or negative SARS-CoV-2 test ("COVID-negative") at 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 testing. Variant periods were defined by dates with ≥50% dominant strain. We performed multivariable logistic regression modeling to estimate independent effects of variants adjusting for sociodemographics, baseline health, and vaccine status. Results: The study included 2402 COVID-positive and 821 COVID-negative participants. Among COVID-positives, 463 (19.3%) were pre-Delta, 1198 (49.9%) Delta, and 741 (30.8%) Omicron. The pre-Delta COVID-positive cohort exhibited more prolonged severe fatigue (16.7% vs 11.5% vs 12.3%; P =. 017) and presence of ≥3 prolonged symptoms (28.4% vs 21.7% vs 16.0%; P <. 001) compared with the Delta and Omicron cohorts. No differences were seen in the COVID-negatives across time-periods. In multivariable models adjusted for vaccination, severe fatigue and odds of having ≥3 symptoms were no longer significant across variants. Conclusions: Prolonged symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection were more common among participants infected during pre-Delta than with Delta and Omicron; however, these differences were no longer significant after adjusting for vaccination status, suggesting a beneficial effect of vaccination on risk of long-Term symptoms. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT04610515.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1930-1941
Number of pages12
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume76
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Delta
  • Long COVID
  • Omicron
  • SARS-CoV-2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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