A study of more than 7,000 workers in a Brazilian healthcare system has found that 27% developed long COVID after their initial infection. Investigators pinpointed key factors that may have heightened their risk.
Investigators used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s description of long COVID, defining cases based on signs, symptoms and conditions that are present four or more weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants had confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 between 2020 and 2022, and their outcomes were followed for 180 days.
Most of those with long COVID (52%) exhibited three or more symptoms, the researchers found. When compared with participants who did not develop long COVID, female sex, age and having had two or more infections were factors associated with higher risk.
SARS-CoV-2 variants played a role as well. Workers infected with the delta or omicron variants were significantly less at risk of long COVID than those infected with the original variant, study lead Alexandre R. Marra, MD, of Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo, and colleagues reported.
Multiple vaccinations may have helped lower the odds as well. Workers who received four COVID-19 vaccine doses before becoming infected were much less likely to experience lingering health issues, investigators found.
A U.S. study published in February found that long COVID is associated with a greater likelihood of unemployment and lower odds of working full-time. In 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services delivered a report on federally funded support and services aimed at helping people with this health issue.
Full findings were published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
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