Post-viral symptoms and conditions are more frequent in COVID-19 than influenza, but not more persistent
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Post-viral symptoms have long been known in the medical community but have received more public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many post-viral symptoms were reported as particularly frequent after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, there is still a lack of evidence regarding the specificity, frequency and persistence of these symptoms in comparison to other viral infectious diseases such as influenza. METHODS: We investigated a large population-based cohort based on German routine healthcare data. We matched 573,791 individuals with a PCR-test confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from the year 2020 to contemporary controls without SARS-CoV-2 infection and controls from the last influenza outbreak in 2018 and followed them up to 18 months. RESULTS: We found that post-viral symptoms as defined for COVID-19 by the WHO as well as tissue damage were more frequent among the COVID-19 cohort than the influenza or contemporary control cohort. The persistence of post-viral symptoms was similar between COVID-19 and influenza. CONCLUSION: Post-viral symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection constitute a substantial disease burden as they are frequent and often persist for many months. As COVID-19 is becoming endemic, the disease must not be trivialized. Research should focus on the development of effective treatments for post-viral symptoms.
Source: BMC Infectious Diseases
Authors: Falko Tesch, Franz Ehm, Friedrich Loser, Lars Bechmann, Annika Vivirito, Danny Wende, Manuel Batram, Tilo Buschmann, Simone Menzer, Marion Ludwig, Martin Roessler, Martin Seifert, Giselle Sarganas Margolis, Lukas Reitzle, Christina König, Claudia Schulte, Dagmar Hertle, Pedro Ballesteros, Stefan Baßler, Barbara Bertele, Thomas Bitterer, Cordula Riederer, Franziska Sobik, Christa Scheidt-Nave, Jochen Schmitt
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,990
Award: G1686309291
OpenAlex ID: W4403249679