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.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 Variants Is Associated with Different Long COVID Phenotypes / 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. - In: VIRUSES. - ISSN 1999-4915. - ELETTRONICO. - 14:(2022), pp. 2367-2367. [10.3390/v14112367]

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

Spinicci, Michele;Graziani, Lucia;Tilli, Marta;Vellere, Iacopo;Mencarini, Jessica;Campolmi, Irene;Gori, Leonardo;Giovannoni, Lorenzo;Amato, Carla;Rasero, Laura;Fattirolli, Francesco;Marcucci, Rossella;Giusti, Betti;Olivotto, Iacopo;Tomassetti, Sara;Lavorini, Federico;Maggi, Laura;Annunziato, Francesco;Marchionni, Niccolò;Zammarchi, Lorenzo;Bartoloni, Alessandro
2022

Abstract

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.
2022
14
2367
2367
Spinicci, Michele; Graziani, Lucia; Tilli, Marta; Nkurunziza, Jerusalem; Vellere, Iacopo; Borchi, Beatrice; Mencarini, Jessica; Campolmi, Irene; Gori,...espandi
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1294120
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