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Infection with SARS-CoV-2 Variants Is Associated with Different Long COVID Phenotypes

COVID-19 has been associated with a broad range of long-term sequelae, commonly referred to as “long-COVID” or “post-COVID-19” syndrome. Despite an increasing body of literature, long COVID remains poorly characterized. We retrospectively analysed data from electronic medical records of patients adm...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Spinicci, Michele, Graziani, Lucia, Tilli, Marta, Nkurunziza, Jerusalem, Vellere, Iacopo, Borchi, Beatrice, Mencarini, Jessica, Campolmi, Irene, Gori, Leonardo, Giovannoni, Lorenzo, Amato, Carla, Livi, Luca, Rasero, Laura, Fattirolli, Francesco, Marcucci, Rossella, Giusti, Betti, Olivotto, Iacopo, Tomassetti, Sara, Lavorini, Federico, Maggi, Laura, Annunziato, Francesco, Marchionni, Niccolò, Zammarchi, Lorenzo, Bartoloni, Alessandro
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9698829/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36366465
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14112367
Descripción
Sumario:COVID-19 has been associated with a broad range of long-term sequelae, commonly referred to as “long-COVID” or “post-COVID-19” syndrome. Despite an increasing body of literature, long COVID remains poorly characterized. We retrospectively analysed data from electronic medical records of patients admitted to the post-COVID-19 outpatient service of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy, between June 2020 and June 2021, 4–12 weeks after hospital discharge. A total of 428 patients, 41% women, median age 64 years, underwent a follow-up visit a median 53 days after hospital discharge. Overall, 76% patients reported at least one persistent symptom, including dyspnoea (37%), chronic fatigue (36%), insomnia (16%), visual disorders (13%) and brain fog (13%). Increasing oxygen support (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1–1.8), use of immunosuppressants (OR 6.4, 95% CI 1.5–28) and female sex (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1–2.9) were associated with a higher risk of long COVID symptoms. Comparison between symptomatic patients infected in the period March–December 2020 (prevalent circulation of wild-type SARS-CoV-2) with those infected in the period January–April 2021 (prevalent circulation of B.1.1.7 Alpha variant) showed a significant modification in the pattern of symptoms belonging to the neurological and cognitive/emotional categories. Our findings confirmed shortness of breath and chronic fatigue as the most frequent long COVID manifestations, while female sex and severe COVID-19 course were the main risk factors for developing lingering symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 variants may induce different long COVID phenotypes, possibly due to changes in cell tropism and differences in viral–host interaction.