Post-COVID-19 condition symptoms among emergency department patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection
Symptoms of the Post-COVID-19 Condition are often non-specific making it a challenge to distinguish them from symptoms due to other medical conditions. In this study, we compare the proportion of emergency department patients who developed symptoms consistent with the World Health Organization's Post-COVID-19 Condition clinical case definition between those who tested positive for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 infection and time-matched patients who tested negative. Our results show that over one-third of emergency department patients with a proven acute infection meet Post-COVID-19 Condition criteria 3 months post-index visit. However, one in five test-negative patients who claim never having been infected also report symptoms consistent with Post-COVID-19 Condition highlighting the lack of specificity of the clinical case definition. Testing for SARS-CoV-2 during the acute phase of a suspected infection should continue until specific biomarkers of Post-COVID-19 Condition become available for diagnosis and treatment.
Authors
- Patrick Archambault (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5090-6439)
- Patrick T. Fok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5787-5439)
- Steven C. Brooks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4592-4974)
- Hana Wiemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6515-2799)
- Rhonda J. Rosychuk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8019-5466)
- Jean‐Sébastien Paquette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9524-6761)
- Murdoch Leeies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7645-0791)
- Dianne Zakaria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8610-1248)
- Jeffrey J. Perry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2134-9597)
- Martyne Audet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9557-022X)
- Elyse Berger Pelletier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5373-7039)
- Philip J. Davis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6913-2058)
- Jeffrey P. Hau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3656-6538)
- Bilkis Vissandjée (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7064-0666)
- Dawn Stacey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2681-741X)
- Samuel Vaillancourt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7561-2368)
- Katie N. Dainty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2906-8813)
- Corinne M. Hohl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9210-7838)
- Susie Goulding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7970-0721)
- Lorraine Graves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0699-7782)
- Simon Décary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8672-5672)
- Éric Mercier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4365-2220)
- Andrew D. McRae (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2743-4290)
- Michelle E. Kho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3170-031X)
- Laurie J. Morrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8369-9774)
- Kavish Chandra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5758-5810)
- Matthew Menear (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0436-6574)
- Raoul Daoust (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6507-0198)
- David Seonguk Yeom
- Samina Aziz
Institutions
- St. Michael's Hospital (CA)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (CA)
- Royal Columbian Hospital (CA)
- Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Ottawa (CA)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Public Health Agency of Canada (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Queen's University (CA)
- North York General Hospital (CA)
- Montreal General Hospital (CA)
- Saint John Regional Hospital (CA)
- Surrey Memorial Hospital (CA)
- Royal Inland Hospital (CA)
- Ottawa Hospital (CA)
- London Health Sciences Centre (CA)
- Kelowna General Hospital (CA)
- St. Paul's Hospital (CA)
- Jewish General Hospital (CA)
- Health Sciences Centre (CA)
- Eagle Ridge Hospital (CA)
- Science North (CA)
- Vancouver General Hospital (CA)
- University of Saskatchewan (CA)
- Royal Victoria Hospital (CA)
- Centre de Recherche en Sciences Animales de Deschambault (CA)
- Abbotsford Veterinary Clinic (CA)
- Lions Gate Hospital (CA)
- Centre Intégré de Santé et Services Sociaux de Chaudière-Appalache (CA)
- Saint Joseph Hospital (US)
- Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus (CA)
- Response Biomedical (Canada) (CA)
- Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (CA)
- Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (CA)
- Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de Chaudière-Appalaches (CA)
- Université Laval (CA)
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (CA)
- Unity Health Toronto
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (CA)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- McMaster University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52404-4
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.32
Funders
- University of British Columbia