One-year outcomes following COVID Omicron variant infections

A study examined the prevalence of long COVID following the Omicron variant.

In a community-based cross-sectional study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific, investigators identified 12,789 individuals with Omicron infections between December 2022 and January 2023. They then assessed the health outcomes of 376 patients who developed long COVID and 229 patients who didn’t develop the condition.

At one year postinfection, nearly 8% of the patients involved in the study experienced long COVID, with commonly reported symptoms including fatigue, postexertional malaise and brain fog. Compared with those who didn’t have long COVID, the patients who did have the condition had lower muscle strength, worse exercise capacity, poorer health-related quality of life as well as greater levels of abnormal lung function and lung imaging abnormalities.

As a result of the findings, the investigators recommended that patients with COVID Omicron variant infections should undergo surveillance and complete professional questionnaires to monitor their symptoms. They concluded that more effective diagnostic tools may be needed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this patient population.

Read more: The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific

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