Symptoms Compatible With Long-COVID in Healthcare Workers With and Without SARS-CoV-2 Infection – Results of a Prospective Multicenter Cohort
October 2021
in “
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
”
TLDR Healthcare workers with a positive COVID-19 test were more likely to report long-COVID symptoms.
In this study involving 3,334 healthcare workers, those with a positive SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab were more likely to report long-COVID symptoms compared to controls, with 73% experiencing symptoms versus 52% of controls. Seropositive individuals without a positive swab were only mildly affected, though they reported higher instances of impaired taste/olfaction and hair loss. Exhaustion and burnout were prevalent even among non-infected workers. Physical activity at baseline was found to be protective against neurocognitive impairment and fatigue. The study highlighted that acute viral symptoms were strong predictors of long-COVID symptoms, and anti-S titers were correlated with high symptom scores.