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Long-COVID Symptoms in Individuals Infected with Different SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Open accessAbstract
The association of SARS-CoV-2 variants with long-COVID symptoms is still scarce, but new data are appearing at a fast pace. This systematic review compares the prevalence of long-COVID symptoms according to relevant SARS-CoV-2 variants in COVID-19 survivors. The MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases, as well as the medRxiv and bioRxiv preprint servers, were searched up to 25 October 2022. Case-control and cohort studies analyzing the presence of post-COVID symptoms appearing after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection by the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B.1.617.2) or Omicron (B.1.1.529/BA.1) variants were included. Methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. From 430 studies identified, 5 peer-reviewed studies and 1 preprint met the inclusion criteria. The sample included 355 patients infected with the historical variant, 512 infected with the Alpha variant, 41,563 infected with the Delta variant, and 57,616 infected with the Omicron variant. The methodological quality of all studies was high. The prevalence of long-COVID was higher in individuals infected with the historical variant (50%) compared to those infected with the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants. It seems that the prevalence of long-COVID in individuals infected with the Omicron variant is the smallest, but current data are heterogeneous, and long-term data have, at this stage, an obviously shorter follow-up compared with the earlier variants. Fatigue is the most prevalent long-COVID symptom in all SARS-CoV-2 variants, but pain is likewise prevalent. The available data suggest that the infection with the Omicron variant results in fewer long-COVID symptoms compared to previous variants; however, the small number of studies and the lack of the control of cofounders, e.g., reinfections or vaccine status, in some studies limit the generality of the results. It appears that individuals infected with the historical variant are more likely to develop long-COVID symptomatology.
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“Fourth, since the observational periods of the included studies varied widely, we could not evaluate the impact of different variants of concern [41].”
From Protective effect of COVID-19 vaccination against long COVID syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2023) · cites this paper as [41]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C., Notarte, K. I., Peligro, P. J., Velasco, J. V., Ocampo, M. J., Henry, B. M., Arendt-Nielsen, L., Torres-Macho, J., & Plaza-Manzano, G.
- Affiliations
- Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Santo Tomas (PH)
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (US)
- Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain (CNAP), Sensory Motor Interaction (SMI), Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor-Virgen de la Torre, 28031 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Physical Therapy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- ORCID
- Venue
- Viruses
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-11-25
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2629
- ISSN
- 1999-4915 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9785120
- OpenAlex
- W4310215156
- Cited by
- 184
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 5.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Viruses (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- the Fondo Europeo De Desarrollo Regional—Recursos REACT-UE del Programa Operativo de Madrid 2014–2020, en la línea de actuación de proyectos de I + D + i en materia de respuesta a COVID 19 (LONG-COVID-EXP-CM) (NNF21OC0067235)
- the Novo Nordic Foundation (NNF21OC0067235)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical 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, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, Omicron variant, Delta variant, Alpha variant, fatigue, pain, symptom prevalence, COVID-19 survivors
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Humans, Databases, Factual
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