Estimating the burden of Long COVID symptom clusters in Ireland

BACKGROUND: Long COVID is a multi-system illness with the potential for a substantial impact on society, from increased healthcare costs to economic and productivity losses. Long COVID is an umbrella term with no consensus on the definition. Long COVID burden estimations in Ireland are patchy and unavailable. We set out to estimate the burden of Long COVID symptom clusters (LCSCs) in Ireland from March 2020 to February 2022. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Health Protection and Surveillance Centre, Ireland. We modelled estimates of the proportion of individuals with Long COVID symptoms based on the Global Burden of Disease Long COVID Study framework. Years Lived with Disability (YLD) due to Long COVID symptom clusters were estimated by age and gender. RESULTS: An estimated 1.2 million symptomatic SAR-CoV-2 infection was reported in Ireland between March 2020 and February 2022. Overall, 6.3% of individuals who had symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 experienced LCSCs. About 13,657 individuals [females: 6,724 (95% UI: 2,444, 14,439); males: 6,933 (95% UI: 2,594, 14,515)] experienced LCSCs in the first year, and 58,983 in the second year of the pandemic [females: 30,511 (95% UI: 10,377, 69,087); males: 28,472 (95% UI: 9,779, 63,988). YLD attributable to Long COVID was 1,373 (95% UI: 363, 3878) and 4,687 (95% UI: 1,111, 14,575) in the first and second year of the pandemic, respectively. Females experienced a higher Long COVID burden (3,034 YLD) than males (3,026 YLD). Females aged 25-44 years had the highest burden of Long COVID (994 YLD). Long COVID contributed 81.2% (95% UI: 61.4%, 90.2%) of the total YLD [7,464 (95% UI: 2,399, 20,467)] due to COVID-19 within the period. CONCLUSIONS: Long COVID estimates are crucially important for evidence-informed policymaking and developing a model of Long COVID care in Ireland. However, the full impact of Long COVID on population health and the healthcare system will be clearer once a core set of health outcomes is developed internationally. KEY MESSAGES: • Post-acute consequences of COVID-19 are the major contributor to the morbidity burden. • Long COVID estimates are crucially important for evidence-informed policymaking and developing a model of Long COVID care in Ireland.