A total of 276 participants belonging to 108 HH were enrolled in the study by the end of May 2021. Twenty (7.2%) were excluded since 16 had a false positive RT-PCR test result and 4 were uncompliant. The final study population comprised 256 participants (103 HH), of which 30 (13 HH) were enrolled during the first COVID-19 wave (March-May 2020) and 226 (90 HH) during the second and third waves (October 2020 until May 2021). Of the final study population, 190 participants (74.2%) had a positive RT-PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 by the end of the 21-day acute disease follow-up period. The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals was fairly similar for both enrolment periods, 73.3% (n=22) for the first wave versus 74.3% (n=168) for the second and third waves. Most individuals (183/190, 96.3%) developed mild to moderate disease while 7 patients were hospitalised between 7-9 days post-infection and one of these died. Most people included in the COVID HOME study did not have other diseases (comorbidities). However, people reported up to 25 different symptoms when they got COVID-19 disease, with about 50% of people reporting 7-15 symptoms. The most frequent symptoms reported but also those that lasted longer (more than 1 month) were fatigue, lack of smell and taste and dry cough.
Long-term sequelae or Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS), defined as a condition arising in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually 3 months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis (WHO, 2023) . According to this definition, more than 40% of people reported to still having complaints related to COVID-19 at all time points (45·5% (n=112) at 3 months, 43·5% (n=131) at 6 months, 32·5% (n=123) at 12 months, and 27% (n=89) at 18 months). Some people had constant or recurrent (come and go) complaints and some had both types. The most frequent long-lasting symptom was persistent fatigue, reported by around half of the people at 3, 6 and 12 months. The other most frequent long-lasting symptoms were:
We also found that people that had more symptoms and symptoms lasting longer during the COVID-19 acute disease, were more likely to have Long COVID.
These results are important to help timely identification of individuals at higher risk of developing PCS and give them support and better treatment.
