Published ,
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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
June 20, 2022
This is a priori excellent news: Omicron would be less likely than its predecessor, the Delta variant, to cause a Covid-long. In any case, this is what a new study reports, published in the scientific journal “The Lancet”.
Omicron: a long covid in 4.4% of cases
In an attempt to better understand the so-called “Covid-long” phenomenon, researchers at King’s College London (United Kingdom) collected health data from 56,003 adult English subjects infected with the coronavirus between December 20 2021 and on March 9. All tested positive when the Omicron variant was dominant.
They then compared this data with that of 41,361 people who tested positive between June 1 and November 27, 2021, a period in which the Delta variant was predominant.
At the end of the analysis of these documents, it appeared that only 4.4% of patients positive for the Omicron variant had developed a long Covid, against 10.8% for people infected with the Delta variant.
However, the number of people suffering from Covid-long was higher during the Omicron period. The explanation lies in the fact that the number of people infected with Omicron during the past winter was greater.
“The Omicron variant appears significantly less likely to cause long-Covid than previous variants, but 1 in 23 people who catch the coronavirus continue to have symptoms for more than four weeks.says Dr. Claire Steves, the lead author of the study.
Also according to the study, the risk of suffering from a Covid-long were even “20 to 50% lower during the Omicron period than during the Delta period“.
An observation shared by Dr Gérazld Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo:
“The Omicron mutation is less severe, both short and long term. The only worrying point is that we cannot quantify this variant, we do not really know how it works (mechanisms of the virus, role of the immune system, etc.). Nevertheless, it is obvious that the mutations lead to a weakening of the virus.”
Consult a GP online
Covid-long: the signs to recognize
During a coronavirus infection, symptoms may persist for more than 12 weeks and may not be justified by the presence of another disease (diabetes, thyroid disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc.). We then speak of Covid-long.
The patient’s condition improves gradually, but very slowly, fluctuating and sometimes incomplete.
First symptom to recognize: persistent fatigue. It can be disabling on a daily basis and lead to a significant reduction in professional, social and personal activities. Simple activities of daily living (eating, walking, shopping, etc.) can become difficult to perform.
In addition, respiratory symptoms are often present: shortness of breath without effort or for minor efforts, such as climbing stairs, persistent cough, etc.
As for pain (chest tightness, headache, skin burning sensation, muscle pain, etc.) and/or skin problems (cutaneous pruritus, hives, chilblains on the feet or hands, etc.), they are quite variable, depending on the person. .