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The following is a summary of “Protective role of vaccination on the development of long COVID: data from a large, multicenter, prospective cohort study,” published in the November 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Gennaro et al. 

Long COVID, a diverse syndrome impacting millions globally, presents an urgent public health challenge, with limited data on predictors of its clinical manifestations over extended follow-up periods.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine the association between viral variants, other predictors, and long COVID incidence and clinical features.  

They enrolled patients aged over 18 years with COVID-19, hospitalized between March 1, 2020, and April 2022, at 2 Italian University Hospitals. Long COVID incidence and clinical symptoms were evaluated using structured questionnaires conducted via phone calls and assessed the relationship between potential risk factors collected during hospitalization and long COVID, using adjusted logistic regression, with results expressed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs.  

The results showed that among 1,012 patients, over a median follow-up of 19 months (IQR: 15-24 months), 91.7% developed long COVID. The most common symptoms affected the respiratory system (80.5%) and neurological system (77.3%), and 54% still experienced long COVID symptoms between 18 and 24 months. Multivariate analysis revealed that vaccination reduced the odds of any long COVID symptoms (OR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.21-0.58), while Delta variant infection strongly predicted neuropsychiatric long COVID (OR: 9.61, P <0.0001).  

Investigators concluded long COVID symptoms persisted in a significant proportion of patients after 18-24 months, and Delta variant infection was linked to a higher risk of neuropsychiatric post-COVID conditions compared to wild-type virus. 

Sources: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-10226-1