本周在哥本哈根召開的歐洲臨床微生物與傳染病學大會(European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases)上發布的最新研究結果。
本周發布的最新研究報告稱,感染流感還是新冠或許并不重要,因為你可能患上的病毒后疾病癥狀看起來高度類似。
長新冠是感染新冠之后發生的一種病毒后疾病。新冠感染急性后遺癥(簡稱PASC)通常被定義為感染后出現的新癥狀,持續至少四周,往往可能長達數月甚至幾年。
感染其他病毒后,例如流感、皰疹、萊姆病甚至埃博拉和SARS等,也可能出現類似的病毒后疾病。病毒后疾病通常表現出與慢性疲勞綜合征類似的癥狀,如疲勞、腦霧和勞累后不適等,這些癥狀會在精神或體力活動后惡化。
對感染者患病毒后疾病的比例以及癥狀的嚴重性研究發現,新冠患者的病毒后疾病相比流感患者并不嚴重,至少在奧密克戎時代是這樣。這是本周在哥本哈根召開的歐洲臨床微生物與傳染病學大會(European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases)上發布的最新研究結果。
該項研究調查了澳大利亞昆士蘭的居民。在2022年初全球爆發奧密克戎之前,當地超過90%的人口已經接種了疫苗。
研究人員用12周時間,跟蹤了近2,200名實驗室確診感染新冠的成年人,以及近1,000名實驗室確診感染流感的成年人。有五分之一(21%)奧密克戎患者在12周內有持續癥狀,有4%報告的癥狀對其日常生活產生了中等或嚴重影響。
流感患者的比例幾乎相同,有23%在12周內有持續癥狀,有4%報告的癥狀對其日常生活產生了中等或嚴重影響。
但昆士蘭衛生部的研究人員表示,長新冠之所以對醫療體系產生巨大影響,原因是新冠感染者的絕對數量。
據世界衛生組織(World Health Organization)統計,過去三年,澳大利亞有超過1,100萬例實驗室確診的新冠感染者,而且這個數據可能嚴重低估了實際人數。
相比之下,去年澳大利亞實驗室確診的流感患者只有略超過225,000人。
昆士蘭首席健康官約翰·杰拉德博士在新聞稿中表示:“我們的人口疫苗接種率較高,因此長新冠對公共健康的影響,似乎并不是源于SARS-CoV-2的任何特性。相反,這源于短期內感染者的絕對人數。”
長新冠風險因素
有趣的是,研究指出,下列群體在感染奧密克戎或新冠之后,日常生活受到中等或嚴重功能限制的可能性較低:
老年人
土著人
澳大利亞約5%至10%的新冠感染者報告的癥狀持續超過三個月。澳大利亞聯邦衛生部門表示,下列群體面臨的風險更高:
女性
中年人
嚴重新冠患者
《健康事務》(Health Affairs)期刊3月份的一篇文章表示,總體而言,有下列健康問題的患者出現長新冠癥狀的風險更高:
高血壓
慢性肺病
肥胖癥
糖尿病
抑郁癥
如何預防長新冠
預防長新冠最好的方法依舊是防止感染新冠,可遵守美國疾病預防控制中心(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的下列建議:
戴口罩
保持社交距離
經常仔細洗手
遠離已知感染者
接種新冠疫苗被普遍認為可以降低長新冠風險。《哈佛健康》(Harvard Health)雜志稱,接種一劑疫苗可將風險降低35%。
德克薩斯大學健康科學中心休斯敦大學(UTHealth Houston)和紀念赫爾曼德州醫療中心(Memorial Hermann)首席傳染病和流行病學專家、德克薩斯大學健康科學中心休斯敦大學新冠卓越中心(COVID-19 Center of Excellence)傳染病主任劉易斯·奧斯特羅斯基博士對《財富》雜志表示,在降低長新冠風險方面,“接種疫苗的效果顯著”。
如何預防感染流感后的病毒后疾病
如果你希望在感染流感后避免病毒后疾病,上述建議同樣適用。奧斯特羅斯基表示:“前提是,避免長新冠或病毒后疾病的最佳途徑是不感染病毒。”
他表示:“新冠真正讓我們認識到戴口罩和洗手的重要性。在冬季并非一定會得病。你完全可以避免。”
接種新冠疫苗,不能幫助你預防流感。但他表示,流感疫苗可降低感染流感后出現病毒后并發癥的風險。(財富中文網)
譯者:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
本周在哥本哈根召開的歐洲臨床微生物與傳染病學大會(European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases)上發布的最新研究結果。
本周發布的最新研究報告稱,感染流感還是新冠或許并不重要,因為你可能患上的病毒后疾病癥狀看起來高度類似。
長新冠是感染新冠之后發生的一種病毒后疾病。新冠感染急性后遺癥(簡稱PASC)通常被定義為感染后出現的新癥狀,持續至少四周,往往可能長達數月甚至幾年。
感染其他病毒后,例如流感、皰疹、萊姆病甚至埃博拉和SARS等,也可能出現類似的病毒后疾病。病毒后疾病通常表現出與慢性疲勞綜合征類似的癥狀,如疲勞、腦霧和勞累后不適等,這些癥狀會在精神或體力活動后惡化。
對感染者患病毒后疾病的比例以及癥狀的嚴重性研究發現,新冠患者的病毒后疾病相比流感患者并不嚴重,至少在奧密克戎時代是這樣。這是本周在哥本哈根召開的歐洲臨床微生物與傳染病學大會(European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases)上發布的最新研究結果。
該項研究調查了澳大利亞昆士蘭的居民。在2022年初全球爆發奧密克戎之前,當地超過90%的人口已經接種了疫苗。
研究人員用12周時間,跟蹤了近2,200名實驗室確診感染新冠的成年人,以及近1,000名實驗室確診感染流感的成年人。有五分之一(21%)奧密克戎患者在12周內有持續癥狀,有4%報告的癥狀對其日常生活產生了中等或嚴重影響。
流感患者的比例幾乎相同,有23%在12周內有持續癥狀,有4%報告的癥狀對其日常生活產生了中等或嚴重影響。
但昆士蘭衛生部的研究人員表示,長新冠之所以對醫療體系產生巨大影響,原因是新冠感染者的絕對數量。
據世界衛生組織(World Health Organization)統計,過去三年,澳大利亞有超過1,100萬例實驗室確診的新冠感染者,而且這個數據可能嚴重低估了實際人數。
相比之下,去年澳大利亞實驗室確診的流感患者只有略超過225,000人。
昆士蘭首席健康官約翰·杰拉德博士在新聞稿中表示:“我們的人口疫苗接種率較高,因此長新冠對公共健康的影響,似乎并不是源于SARS-CoV-2的任何特性。相反,這源于短期內感染者的絕對人數。”
長新冠風險因素
有趣的是,研究指出,下列群體在感染奧密克戎或新冠之后,日常生活受到中等或嚴重功能限制的可能性較低:
老年人
土著人
澳大利亞約5%至10%的新冠感染者報告的癥狀持續超過三個月。澳大利亞聯邦衛生部門表示,下列群體面臨的風險更高:
女性
中年人
嚴重新冠患者
《健康事務》(Health Affairs)期刊3月份的一篇文章表示,總體而言,有下列健康問題的患者出現長新冠癥狀的風險更高:
高血壓
慢性肺病
肥胖癥
糖尿病
抑郁癥
如何預防長新冠
預防長新冠最好的方法依舊是防止感染新冠,可遵守美國疾病預防控制中心(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的下列建議:
戴口罩
保持社交距離
經常仔細洗手
遠離已知感染者
接種新冠疫苗被普遍認為可以降低長新冠風險。《哈佛健康》(Harvard Health)雜志稱,接種一劑疫苗可將風險降低35%。
德克薩斯大學健康科學中心休斯敦大學(UTHealth Houston)和紀念赫爾曼德州醫療中心(Memorial Hermann)首席傳染病和流行病學專家、德克薩斯大學健康科學中心休斯敦大學新冠卓越中心(COVID-19 Center of Excellence)傳染病主任劉易斯·奧斯特羅斯基博士對《財富》雜志表示,在降低長新冠風險方面,“接種疫苗的效果顯著”。
如何預防感染流感后的病毒后疾病
如果你希望在感染流感后避免病毒后疾病,上述建議同樣適用。奧斯特羅斯基表示:“前提是,避免長新冠或病毒后疾病的最佳途徑是不感染病毒。”
他表示:“新冠真正讓我們認識到戴口罩和洗手的重要性。在冬季并非一定會得病。你完全可以避免。”
接種新冠疫苗,不能幫助你預防流感。但他表示,流感疫苗可降低感染流感后出現病毒后并發癥的風險。(財富中文網)
譯者:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
When looking at the percentage of those infected who develop post-viral illness, as well as the severity of symptoms, post-viral illness from COVID generally isn’t more of a problem than that from flu—in the Omicron era, at least. That’s according to new findings presented this week at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen.
Flu or COVID, it may not matter—the post-viral illness you potentially wind up with could look pretty similar, according to new research released this week.
Long COVID is a post-viral illness that occurs after infection with COVID. Also known as PASC, or post-acute sequelae of COVID, it’s typically defined as new symptoms that develop after infection and persist for at least four weeks—often for months, and sometimes for years.
Similar post-viral illnesses can occur with other viruses, too, like the flu, herpes, Lyme disease—and even Ebola and SARS. Post-viral illnesses often have a chronic fatigue syndrome-like presentation, with symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and post-exertional malaise, in which symptoms get worse after mental or physical activity.
When looking at the percentage of those infected who develop post-viral illness, as well as the severity of symptoms, post-viral illness from COVID generally isn’t more of a problem than that from flu—in the Omicron era, at least. That’s according to new findings presented this week at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen.
The research took place among residents of Queensland, Australia, where more than 90% of the population had been vaccinated before Omicron burst onto the global scene in early 2022.
For 12 weeks, researchers followed nearly 2,200 adults who had been diagnosed with lab-confirmed COVID, and nearly 1,000 adults who had been diagnosed with lab-confirmed flu. Of those who experienced Omicron, a fifth (21%) had ongoing symptoms at 12 weeks, and 4% reported symptoms that had a moderate or severe impact on daily living.
When it came to those who had experienced the flu, the numbers were almost identical, with 23% reporting ongoing symptoms at 12 weeks, and 4% reporting moderate or severe impacts on daily living.
But there’s a reason why long COVID is having an outsized impact on the health care system, researchers from Queensland Health said in a news release: the sheer volume of COVID infections.
There have been more than 11 million lab-confirmed COVID infections over Australia in the last three years, according to the World Health Organization—a number that is likely a massive undercount.
By comparison, Australia only recorded only a little more than 225,000 lab-confirmed cases of flu last year.
“In our highly vaccinated population, the public health impact of long COVID does not appear to result from any unique property of SARS-CoV-2,” Dr. John Gerrard, Queensland’s chief health officer, said in the release. “Rather, the impact results from the sheer number of people infected over a short period of time.”
Long COVID risk factors
Interestingly, the study noted that those who were members of the following groups were less likely to report moderate or severe functional limitations on their daily lives after Omicron or flu:
older individuals
members of indigenous populations
Around 5% to 10% of Australians who’ve had COVID report symptoms lasting for longer than three months. People who are part of the following groups seem to be at greater risk, according to the country’s federal health agency:
female
middle age
those who’ve had severe COVID
In general, people with the following health conditions are at a greater risk of developing long COVID, according to a March journal article in?Health Affairs:
hypertension
chronic lung disease
obesity
diabetes
depression
How to prevent long COVID
The best way to prevent long COVID continues to be to prevent COVID infection, by doing the following, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
masking
social distancing
frequent, quality hand-washing
staying away from those with known illness
It’s widely thought that COVID vaccination could reduce the risk of developing long COVID. Just a single shot could reduce your risk by 35%, according to Harvard Health.
When it comes to reducing long COVID risk, “vaccinating goes a very long way,” Dr. Luis Ostrosky—chief of infectious diseases and epidemiology at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann in Texas, and the infectious diseases director for?UTHealth Houston’s COVID-19 Center of Excellence—tells Fortune.
How to prevent post-viral illness from the flu
If you’re looking to prevent potential post-viral illness from the flu, the same recommendations apply, Ostrosky says: “The premise is that the best way not to get long COVID or post-flu issues is to not experience the diseases themselves.”
“COVID was a real eye-opener for all of us as to the power of masking and hand hygiene,” he adds. “It’s no longer automatic to get sick in the winter. You can very likely avoid it.”
A COVID vaccine won’t help you when it comes to the flu. But a flu vaccine could reduce your risk of developing post-viral complications from the flu, he advises.