Risk of long Covid symptoms lower with Omicron variant than Delta: Study
1 min read 21 Jun 2022, 01:48 PM ISTCovid symptoms: The odds of experiencing long Covid were between 20-50% less during the Omicron period versus the Delta period, depending on age and time since vaccination.
PremiumOmicron variant is less likely to cause lingering symptoms, known as long Covid', according to a study published in The Lancet journal.
Long Covid is defined as having new or ongoing symptoms for four weeks or more, the researchers said. The researchers found that the odds of experiencing long Covid were between 20-50% less during the Omicron period versus the Delta period, depending on age and time since vaccination.
According to lead author Claire Steves from King's College London, UK, One in 23 people who cath Omicron can have Covid symptoms for more than four weeks.
"The Omicron variant appears substantially less likely to cause long Covid than previous variants," Steves added.
The study identified 56,003 UK adult cases first testing positive between December 20, 2021, and March 9, 2022, when Omicron was the dominant strain.
Researchers compared these cases to 41,361 cases first testing positive between June 1, 2021, and November 27, 2021, when the Delta variant was dominant.
The analysis shows 4.4% of Omicron cases were long Covid, compared to 10.8% of Delta cases.
However, the absolute number of people experiencing long COVID was in fact higher in the Omicron period, the researchers said.
This was because of the vast number of people infected with Omicron from December 2021 to February 2022, they said.
The UK Office of National Statistics estimated the number of people with long Covid increased from 1.3 million in January 2022 to 2 million as of May 1, 2022.
