Omicron may be less likely to cause long Covid than Delta

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-06-17 10:53

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In a world-first study, British researchers looked at self-reported data from a symptom tracking app to reveal the risk of Omicron-sparked long COVID. The team found the odds of long COVID were lower - by a quarter to a half - with Omicron versus Delta, depending on age and the length of time since vaccination. Just under 5% of Omicron cases got long COVID compared to nearly 11% of Delta cases. The authors note, however, that the actual number of people with lasting symptoms depends on the pandemic’s shape and pace of change, and the sheer size of Omicron cases means long COVID cases will "inevitably" rise.

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Research Elsevier, Web page

Journal/
conference: The Lancet

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Kings College London, ZOE, Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (UK)

Funder: This work is supported by the UK Department of Health via the National Institute for Health Research comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy’s & St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and King’s College London, and via a grant to ZOE from the UK Health Security Agency. This work is also supported by the Chronic Disease Research Foundation and the Wellcome Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Medical Engineering at King’s College London.

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