1. Self-reported long COVID-19 symptoms are rare among vaccinated healthcare workers
- Author
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Salma AlBahrani, Ali AlBarrak, Nawal AlGubaisi, Hamoud Alkurdi, Dalia Alburaiki, Abdulrahaman AlGhamdi, Mohammed AlOthaiqy, Sarah Tayeb, Nesreen Tayeb, Salimah Abdraboh, Amani Khairi, Lujain Alshareef, Asma AlHarbi, Saad AlRabeeah, Abdullah S. Alqahtani, Jaber S. Alqahtani, Fatimah Hassan Hakami, Thekra N. Al-Maqati, Sausan Abdulrahman Alkhrashi, Meshael Musaed Almershad, Asmaa AlAbbadi, Mariam Hassan Hakami, Osama Faqihi, Kauthar Jaffar A. Altawfiq, Arulanantham Zachariah Jebakumar, and Jaffar A. Al-Tawfiq
- Subjects
SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 ,Long-COVID ,Post-COVID ,Healthcare workers ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected healthcare workers (HCWs). Here, we evaluate the occurence of long-COVID-19 symtoms among HCWs. Methods: This is a questionnaire-based study of HCWs who had COVID-19 in two medical centers in Saudi Arabia and were mostly vaccinated. Results: The study included 243 HCWs with a mean age (+ SD) of 36.1 (+ 7.6) years. Of them, 223 (91.8%) had three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 12 (4.9%) had four doses, and 5 (2.1%) had two doses. The most common symptoms at the start of the illness were cough (180, 74.1%), shortness of breath (124, 51%), muscle ache (117, 48.1%), headache (113, 46.5%), sore throat (111, 45.7%), diarrhea (109, 44.9%) and loss of taste (108, 44.4%). Symptoms lasted for one week and 2 months and 3 months in 15 (6.2%). The main symptoms present> 3 months were hair loss (8, 3.3%), cough (5, 2.1%), and diarrhea (5, 2.1%). A binomial regression analysis showed no relationship between persistence of symptoms for> 3 months and other demographic or clinical symptoms characteristics. Conclusion: The study showed a low rate of the occurence of long-COVID> 3 months during the Omicron-wave among mostly vaccinated HCWs with no significant comorbidities. Furhter studies are needed to examine the effect of different vaccines on long-COVID-19 among HCWs.
- Published
- 2023
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