Clinical and epidemiological data of COVID-19 from Regensburg, Germany: a retrospective analysis of 1084 consecutive cases, 2021, Lampl et al

Background

COVID-19 is a syndrome caused by the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2. We collected clinical and epidemiologic data in an almost complete cohort of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals from Regensburg, Germany, from March 2020 to May 2020.

Methods
Analysis of a retrospectively documented cohort of consecutive COVID-19 cases recorded between March 7, 2020 and May 24, 2020 as part of an infection control investigation program, with prospective follow-up interviews gathering information on type and duration of symptoms and COVID-19 risk factors until June 26, 2020.

Results
Of 1089 total cases, 1084 (99.5%) cases were included. The incidence during the time period was 315.4/100,000, lower than in the superordinate government district Oberpfalz (468.5/100,000) and the overall state of Bavaria (359.7/100,000). The case fatality ratio (CFR) was 2.1%. Among fatal cases, the mean age was 74.4 years and 87% presented with known risk factors, most commonly chronic heart disease, chronic lung disease, kidney disease, and diabetes mellitus. 897 cases (82.7%) showed at least one symptom, most frequently cough (45%) and fever (41%). Further, 18% of cases suffered from odour/taste disorder. 17% of total cases reported no symptoms. The median duration of general illness was 10 days. During follow-up, 8.9% of 419 interviewed cases reported at least one symptom lasting at least 6 weeks, and fatigue was the most frequent persistent symptom.

Discussion
We report data on type and duration of symptoms, and clinical severity of nearly all (99.5%) patients with SARS-CoV-2 recorded from March 2020 to May 2020 in Regensburg. A broad range of symptoms and symptom duration was seen, some of them lasting several weeks in a considerable number of cases. The case-fatality ratio was 2.1%. Asymptomatic cases may be underrepresented due to the nature of the study.

Open access, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s15010-021-01580-2

 

Long covid estimate of 9% max

assuming I have understood the method right, this was a fairly comprehensive and unbiased original sample. Which means this could be giving us a decent estimate of the rates of long Covid; this implies a rate of only 9% at six weeks, which is lower than quite a few other estimates.

However, this data comes from a subset who were interviewed by phone, and there was only 50% response rate "A total of 419 of 834 eligible patients responded to the telephone interview". (In CFS/fatigue studies like this I've seen, people who are still ill are more likely to participate in followp-up).

Table 2
Subjective recovery at time of interview: 406 (96.4%)
This would give a Covid rate of 3.6%, though it's not clear to me (because I haven't read the full study) when the interview was done relative to the start of infection.

 

This looks interesting, thanks to Andy and Simon for highlighting it.

Only 2.6% reported persistent fatigue at week 6.