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. In this study of more than 6500 emergency department patients, symptoms consistent with Long COVID are reported by 38.9% of SARS-CoV-2 test-positive and 20.7% of test-negative patients three months after their visit. A documented SARS-CoV-2 infection increased the risk fourfold of reporting Long COVID symptoms.