Clinical characteristics of the Omicron variant - results from a Nationwide Symptoms Survey in the Faroe Islands
Adult
0301 basic medicine
Omicron
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Article
3. Good health
03 medical and health sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
0302 clinical medicine
Clinical characteristics, Faroe Islands
Surveys and Questionnaires
Humans
Survey
Child
DOI:
10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.005
Publication Date:
2022-07-08T12:40:46Z
AUTHORS (10)
ABSTRACT
Omicron appears to lead to a milder illness for patients compared with previous COVID-19 variants. However, not all infected with Omicron would describe their illness as mild. In this study, we investigate the experienced severity and symptoms of the Omicron variant.We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study, including 5036 individuals of all ages, consisting of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases from 1 January to 31 January 2022 (n = 4506) and a control group without SARS-COV-2 infection in December 2021 or January 2022 (n = 530). Omicron was dominant during this period. Cases were asked about their acute symptoms and answered a web-based questionnaire 10-30 days after their positive test while controls were asked about symptoms during the past week.Among cases, 97% reported at least one symptom during the acute phase compared with 79% of controls. Just over half the cases assessed their illness as asymptomatic or mild, whereas 46% assessed their illness as moderate or severe. Children reported fewer symptoms and less severe illnesses than adults (P <0.001). The largest risk differences (RDs) between adult cases and controls due to symptoms were observed for fever (RD = 60.6%, confidence interval [CI] 57.4-63.6), fatigue (RD = 49.6%, CI 44.1-54.7), and chills (RD = 48.8%, CI 43.8-53.2).Most of those infected with Omicron experience symptoms, and the Omicron variant appears to lead to less severe disease. However, this does not mean that all the infected experience an Omicron infection as mild. The unprecedented rate of Omicron infections worldwide leads to urgent questions about the rate of long COVID after Omicron infections.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Coming soon ....
REFERENCES (33)
CITATIONS (32)
EXTERNAL LINKS
PlumX Metrics
RECOMMENDATIONS
FAIR ASSESSMENT
Coming soon ....
JUPYTER LAB
Coming soon ....