Long COVID in a prospective cohort of home-isolated patients
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Long-term complications after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are common in hospitalized patients, but the spectrum of symptoms in milder cases needs further investigation. We conducted a long-term follow-up in a prospective cohort study of 312 patients—247 home-isolated and 65 hospitalized—comprising 82% of total cases in Bergen during the first pandemic wave in Norway. At 6 months, 61% (189/312) of all patients had persistent symptoms, which were independently associated with severity of initial illness, increased convalescent antibody titers and pre-existing chronic lung disease. We found that 52% (32/61) of home-isolated young adults, aged 16–30 years, had symptoms at 6 months, including loss of taste and/or smell (28%, 17/61), fatigue (21%, 13/61), dyspnea (13%, 8/61), impaired concentration (13%, 8/61) and memory problems (11%, 7/61). Our findings that young, home-isolated adults with mild COVID-19 are at risk of long-lasting dyspnea and cognitive symptoms highlight the importance of infection control measures, such as vaccination.
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A prospective cohort study involving nonhospitalized patients showed that patients with long COVID had a lower titer of serum spike IgG/micro-neutralizing antibody compared to those without.
“A prospective cohort study involving nonhospitalized patients showed that patients with long COVID had a lower titer of serum spike IgG/micro-neutralizing antibody compared to those without [38].”
From Protective effect of COVID-19 vaccination against long COVID syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2023) · cites this paper as [38]
The Results (page not available in our copy) report the opposite association: increased antibody titers were associated with more persistent symptoms and fatigue at six months. This association also remained in an analysis restricted to home-isolated patients, so the cited study does not support lower titers in nonhospitalized patients with long COVID. (LLM, conf=0.92)
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Cites
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- Authors
- Blomberg, B., Mohn, K. G.-I., Brokstad, K. A., Zhou, F., Linchausen, D. W., Hansen, B.-A., Lartey, S., Onyango, T. B., Kuwelker, K., Sævik, M., Bartsch, H., Tøndel, C., Kittang, B. R., Bergen COVID-19 Research Group, Madsen, A., Bredholt, G., Vahokoski, J., Fjelltveit, E. B., Bansal, A., Trieu, M. C., Ljostveit, S., Olofsson, J. S., Ertesvåg, N., Sandnes, H. H., Corydon, A., Søyland, H., Eidsheim, M., Jakobsen, K., Guldseth, N., Hauge, S., Cox, R. J., & Langeland, N.
- Affiliations
- Haukeland University Hospital (NO)
- Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (NO)
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Bergen Kommune (NO)
- Haraldsplass Diakonale Sykehus (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Blomberg, Bjørn
- Cox, Rebecca Jane
- Langeland, Nina
- ORCID
- Blomberg, Bjørn
- Mohn, Kristin Greve-Isdahl
- Brokstad, Karl Albert
- Zhou, Fan
- Hansen, Bent-Are
- Lartey, Sarah
- Kuwelker, Kanika
- Sævik, Marianne
- Bartsch, Hauke
- Tøndel, Camilla
- Madsen, Anders
- Bredholt, Geir
- Fjelltveit, Elisabeth Berg
- Bansal, Amit
- Trieu, Mai Chi
- Olofsson, Jan Stefan
- Ertesvåg, Nina
- Søyland, Hanne
- Cox, Rebecca Jane
- Langeland, Nina
- Venue
- Nature Medicine
- Published
- 2021-06-23
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1607-1613
- ISSN
- 1078-8956 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-170X
- PMC
- PMC8440190
- OpenAlex
- W3175450024
- Cited by
- 659
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 63 · 2024: 92 · 2023: 156 · 2022: 251 · 2021: 67
- FWCI
- 67.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Trond Mohn stiftelse (TMS2020TMT05, F-11628)
- European Commission (874866, H202 0874866, 101037867, H2020, 115672)
- Helse- og Omsorgsdepartementet (F-11628)
- Helse Vest (F‐11628, TMS2020TMT05)
- Universitetet i Bergen
- Norges Forskningsråd (EU IMI115672, H2020 101037867, H2020 874866 INCENTIVE, 284930)
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (101037867 Vaccelerate, 874866, 874866 INCENTIVE, 101037867)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- long COVID, home isolation, mild COVID-19, persistent symptoms, anosmia, fatigue, dyspnea, cognitive impairment, memory impairment, chronic lung disease, young adults, COVID-19 vaccination, infection control
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Anosmia, Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Adolescent, Adult, Ageusia, Antibodies, Viral, Child, Child, Preschool, Dyspnea, Fatigue, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Norway, Patient Isolation, Prospective Studies, Severity of Illness Index, Young Adult, Cognitive Dysfunction
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