Excess of infection with SARS-CoV-2 during the first versus second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with long COVID

Charles Ouazana Vedrines^{1

2}, Clément Gouraud³, Marc Scherlinger^{4

5}, Sabrina Betouche⁶, Fabrice Carrat^{7

8}, Eric Caumes⁹, Victor Pitron^{10

11}, Olivier Robineau^{7

12}, Jean Sibilia^{4

5}, Patricia Thoreux^{13

14}, Kewei Xiang⁶, Brigitte Ranque^#^{15

6

16}, Cédric Lemogne^#^{15

3}; CASPer-COVID study group

Collaborators, Affiliations

Affiliations

¹ Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Center for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Inserm, INRAE, Paris, France. charles.ouazana-vedrines@aphp.fr.
² Service de Psychiatrie de L'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France. charles.ouazana-vedrines@aphp.fr.
³ Service de Psychiatrie de L'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
⁴ Service de Rhumatologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, Centre National de Référence RESO-Lupus, Strasbourg, France.
⁵ Laboratoire d'ImmunoRhumatologie Moléculaire, INSERM UMR_S 1109, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
⁶ Unité CASPer, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
⁷ Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut Pierre-Louis d'Epidémiologie Et de Santé Publique, Paris, France.
⁸ Département de Santé Publique, AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
⁹ Service de Prise en Charge Ambulatoire Des Maladies Infectieuses, AP-HP, Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
¹⁰ Université Paris Cité, VIFASOM (Vigilance Fatigue Sommeil et Santé Publique), Paris, France.
¹¹ Centre du Sommeil et de La Vigilance-Pathologie Professionnelle, AP-HP, Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
¹² EA2694, Univ Lille, Centre Hospitalier de Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France.
¹³ Université Paris Cité, Faculté de Santé, UFR de Médecine, Paris, France.
¹⁴ CIMS (Centre d'Investigations en Médecine du Sport), AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Paris, France.
¹⁵ Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Center for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Inserm, INRAE, Paris, France.
¹⁶ Service de Médecine Interne, AP-HP, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 41316208
PMCID: PMC12751431
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-25417-x

Excess of infection with SARS-CoV-2 during the first versus second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with long COVID

Charles Ouazana Vedrines et al. BMC Public Health. 2025.

. 2025 Nov 28;25(1):4355.

doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-25417-x.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Center for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Inserm, INRAE, Paris, France. charles.ouazana-vedrines@aphp.fr.
² Service de Psychiatrie de L'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France. charles.ouazana-vedrines@aphp.fr.
³ Service de Psychiatrie de L'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
⁴ Service de Rhumatologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, Centre National de Référence RESO-Lupus, Strasbourg, France.
⁵ Laboratoire d'ImmunoRhumatologie Moléculaire, INSERM UMR_S 1109, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
⁶ Unité CASPer, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
⁷ Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut Pierre-Louis d'Epidémiologie Et de Santé Publique, Paris, France.
⁸ Département de Santé Publique, AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
⁹ Service de Prise en Charge Ambulatoire Des Maladies Infectieuses, AP-HP, Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
¹⁰ Université Paris Cité, VIFASOM (Vigilance Fatigue Sommeil et Santé Publique), Paris, France.
¹¹ Centre du Sommeil et de La Vigilance-Pathologie Professionnelle, AP-HP, Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, France.
¹² EA2694, Univ Lille, Centre Hospitalier de Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France.
¹³ Université Paris Cité, Faculté de Santé, UFR de Médecine, Paris, France.
¹⁴ CIMS (Centre d'Investigations en Médecine du Sport), AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Paris, France.
¹⁵ Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Center for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Inserm, INRAE, Paris, France.
¹⁶ Service de Médecine Interne, AP-HP, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 41316208
PMCID: PMC12751431
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-25417-x

Abstract

Background: Post-COVID-19 condition affects up to 10% of patients months after a COVID-19 episode. Population-based epidemiology suggests that self-reported long COVID in France might be more common among those infected during the first wave of the pandemic than the second one, supporting the role of contextual risk factors in symptom persistence in some patients. We aimed to examine whether this pattern could also be observed in a clinical setting, considering patients with well-characterized post-COVID-19 condition and the general population.

Methods: In a case-population study, we compared the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first wave (January 1 to May 11, 2020) versus the second wave, which involved the same historical variant (May 12, 2020 to January 15, 2021) between patients with post-COVID-19 condition assessed during a multidisciplinary day-hospital program and the general population. Binary logistic regression was used to compute odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for infection during the first versus the second wave.

Results: Among 177 consecutive patients, the odds of reporting SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first versus the second wave were significantly higher than in the Paris area general population (OR [95% CI]: 1.74 [1.27–2.40]), p < 0.001). The results remained similar in sensitivity analyses considering the French general population (1.36 [1.02–1.88]).

Conclusions: These results further suggest the role of contextual factors in long COVID and the relevance of a biopsychosocial perspective.

Keywords: Biopsychosocial model; Long COVID; Multidisciplinary care; Persistent symptoms; Post-COVID-19 condition; Risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This retrospective study was designed in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. After confirming that the intended research did not involve human subject as defined by the French law n◦2012–300 of March 5, 2012, regarding research involving human subjects, the project received authorization from the “Comité d’éthique de la recherche AP-HP Centre” (CERAPHP); IRB registration #00011928, Ref 2022-10-08. Specifically, as this study was a restrospective chart review observational study, written consent was not required. Nevertheless, participants were informed that medical records could be used for research purposes via the medical examination report they received after their participation. They were also informed of the procedure to follow should they wish to oppose the use of their data for research purposes. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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References

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Excess of infection with SARS-CoV-2 during the first versus second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with long COVID

Collaborators

Affiliations

Excess of infection with SARS-CoV-2 during the first versus second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with long COVID

Authors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

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