According to a new study, the risk of prolonged COVID is lower during the Omicron wave compared to the Delta wave.
A new study found that the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron was less likely to cause long-term COVID than the Delta variant.
An analysis by researchers at King’s College London on data from the ZOE COVID Symptom research application was published today (June 18, 2022) in a letter to The Lancet. The results are from the first peer-reviewed study, which reported a long-term risk of COVID and the Omicron variant.
Long-term COVID is defined by NICE guidelines as new or continuing symptoms four weeks or more after the onset of the disease. Symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of concentration and joint pain. Symptoms can adversely affect daily activities and in some cases can be very restrictive.
The researchers found that the chances of long-term survival of COVID were between 20-50% less during the Omicron period than during the Delta period, depending on age and time after vaccination.
The study identified 56,003 adult cases in the United Kingdom, the first positive test between 20 December 2021 and 9 March 2022, when Omicron was the dominant strain. Researchers compared these cases with 41,361 positive samples for the first time between 1 June 2021 and 27 November 2021, when the Delta option was dominant.
The analysis shows that 4.4% of Omicron cases were long COVIDs, compared to 10.8% of Delta cases. However, the absolute number of people who survived prolonged COVID was actually higher during the Omicron period. This is due to the huge number of people infected with Omicron from December 2021 to February 2022. The UK National Statistics Office estimates that the number of people with long-term COVID actually increased from 1.3 million in January 2022. at 2 million as of May 1, 2022.
Lead author, Dr Claire Steves of King’s College London, said: “The Omicron variant seems significantly less likely to cause Long-COVID than previous variants, but still 1 in 23 people who catch COVID-19 , continue to have symptoms for more than four weeks. Given the number of people affected, it is important that we continue to support them at work, at home and within the NHS.
Reference: “Risk of long-term COVID associated with delta versus omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2” by Michela Antonelli, Joan Capdevila Pujol, Tim D Specter, Sebastian Ourselin and Claire J. Steves, June 18, 2022, The Lancet.DOI : 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (22) 00941-2
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