Vincent V.C. Woo Chinese Medicine Clinical Research Institute, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
J Med Virol. 2023 Jun;95(6):e28862. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28862.
Long COVID has been reported among patients with COVID-19, but little is known about the prevalence and risk factors associated with long COVID 6-12 months after infection with the Omicron variant. This is a large-scale retrospective study. A total of 6242 out of 12 950 nonhospitalized subjects of all ages with SARS-CoV-2 infection (confirmed by polymerase chain reaction/rapid antigen test) during the Omicron dominant outbreak (December 31, 2021-May 6, 2022) in Hong Kong were included. Prevalence of long COVID, frequencies of symptoms, and risk factors were analyzed. Three thousand four hundred and thirty (55.0%) subjects reported at least one long COVID symptom. The most reported symptom was fatigue (1241, 36.2%). Female gender, middle age, obesity, comorbidities, vaccination after infection, having more symptoms, and presenting fatigue/chest tightness/headache/diarrhea in the acute stage of illness were identified as associated risk factors for long COVID. Patients who had received three or more doses of vaccine were not associated with a lower risk of long COVID (adjusted odds ratio 1.105, 95% confidence interval 0.985-1.239, p = 0.088). Among patients with at least three doses of vaccine, there was no significant difference in the risk of long COVID between the CoronaVac vaccine and BNT162b2 vaccine (p > 0.05). Omicron infection can lead to long COVID in a significant proportion of nonhospitalized patients 6-12 months after infection. Further investigation is needed to uncover the mechanisms underlying the development of long COVID and determine the impact of various risk factors such as vaccines.
长期新冠病毒感染在 COVID-19 患者中已有报道，但对于奥密克戎变异株感染后 6-12 个月的长期新冠病毒感染的患病率和相关风险因素知之甚少。这是一项大规模的回顾性研究。共纳入香港奥密克戎主导疫情期间（2021 年 12 月 31 日至 2022 年 5 月 6 日）年龄在所有年龄段的 12950 例非住院 SARS-CoV-2 感染患者（通过聚合酶链反应/快速抗原检测确诊）中的 6242 例。分析了长期新冠病毒感染的患病率、症状频率和危险因素。3430 例（55.0%）患者报告至少有一种长期新冠病毒感染症状。最常见的症状是疲劳（1241 例，36.2%）。女性、中年、肥胖、合并症、感染后接种疫苗、有更多症状以及在疾病急性期出现疲劳/胸闷/头痛/腹泻，被确定为长期新冠病毒感染的相关危险因素。接种 3 剂或更多剂疫苗的患者与较低的长期新冠病毒感染风险无关（调整后的优势比 1.105，95%置信区间 0.985-1.239，p=0.088）。在至少接种 3 剂疫苗的患者中，科兴疫苗和 BNT162b2 疫苗的长期新冠病毒感染风险无显著差异（p>0.05）。奥密克戎感染可导致感染后 6-12 个月非住院患者出现显著比例的长期新冠病毒感染。需要进一步研究以揭示长期新冠病毒感染发展的机制，并确定疫苗等各种危险因素的影响。
