Lower prevalence of post-Covid-19 Condition following Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection

Siméon de Bruijn; Albert Jan van Hoek; Elizabeth N Mutubuki; Hans Knoop; Jaap Slootweg; Anna D Tulen; Eelco Franz; Cees C van den Wijngaard; Tessa van der Maaden

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28941

Lower prevalence of post-Covid-19 Condition following Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection

Heliyon. 2024 Mar 30;10(7):e28941. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28941. eCollection 2024 Apr 15.

Authors

Siméon de Bruijn¹, Albert Jan van Hoek¹, Elizabeth N Mutubuki¹, Hans Knoop², Jaap Slootweg³, Anna D Tulen¹, Eelco Franz¹, Cees C van den Wijngaard¹, Tessa van der Maaden¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
² Department of Medical Psychology and Amsterdam Public Health from the Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health, National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Objectives: Different SARS-CoV-2 variants can differentially affect the prevalence of Post Covid-19 Condition (PCC). This prospective study assesses prevalence and severity of symptoms three months after an Omicron infection, compared to Delta, test-negative and population controls. This study also assesses symptomology after reinfection and breakthrough infections.

Methods: After a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, cases were classified as Omicron or Delta based on ≥ 85% surveillance prevalence. Three months after enrolment, participants indicated point prevalence for 41 symptoms and severity, using validated questionnaires for four symptoms. PCC prevalence was estimated as the difference in prevalence of at least one significantly elevated symptom, identified by permutation test, in cases compared to population controls.

Results: At three months follow-up, five symptoms and severe dyspnea were significantly elevated in Omicron cases (n = 4138) compared to test-negative (n = 1672) and population controls (n = 2762). PCC prevalence was 10·4% for Omicron cases and 17·7% for Delta cases (n = 6855). In Omicron cases, severe fatigue and dyspnea were more prevalent in reinfected than primary infected, while severity of symptoms did not significantly differ between cases with a booster or primary vaccination course.

Conclusions: Prevalence of PCC is 41% lower after Omicron than Delta at three months. Reinfection seems associated with more severe long-term symptoms compared to first infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Delta; Long COVID; Long-term symptoms; Omicron; Post Covid-19 condition; Prevalence; Reinfection; SARS-CoV-2; Symptoms.