Post-Acute Sequelae after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection by Viral Variant and Vaccination Status: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Disentangling the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and vaccination on the occurrence of post-Acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is crucial to estimate and reduce the burden of PASC. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis (May/June 2022) within a prospective multicenter healthcare worker (HCW) cohort in north-eastern Switzerland. HCWs were stratified by viral variant and vaccination status at time of their first positive SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab. HCWs without positive swab and with negative serology served as controls. The sum of 18 self-reported PASC symptoms was modeled with univariable and multivariable negative-binomial regression to analyze the association of mean symptom number with viral variant and vaccination status. Results: Among 2912 participants (median age: 44 years; 81.3% female), PASC symptoms were significantly more frequent after wild-Type infection (estimated mean symptom number: 1.12; P