Follow Up of COVID-19 Features in Recovered Adults without Comorbidities– Persistent Symptoms and Lab-Abnormalities

Abstract Background: With increasing numbers of patients recovering from COVID-19, there is increasing evidence for persisting symptoms and the need for follow-up studies. Methods: This retrospective study included patients without comorbidities, who recovered from COVID-19 and attended an outpatient clinic at a university hospital for follow-up care and potential convalescent plasma donation. Network analysis was applied to visualize symptom combinations and persistent symptoms. Comprehensive lab-testing was ascertained at each follow-up to analyze differences regarding patients with vs without persistent symptoms. Results: 116 patients were included, age range was 18-69 years (median: 41) with follow-ups ranging from 22 to 102 days. The three most frequent persisting symptoms were Fatigue (54%), Dyspnea (29%) and Anosmia (25%). Lymphopenia was present in 13 of 112 (12%) cases. Five of 35 cases (14%) had Lymphopenia in the later follow-up range of 80-102 days. Serum IgA concentration was the only lab parameter with significant difference between patients with vs without persistent symptoms with reduced serum IgA concentrations in the patient cohort of persisting symptoms (p=0.0219). Conclusion: Lymphopenia persisted in a noticeable percentage of recovered patients. Moreover, higher serum IgA concentration is associated with a positive effect regarding symptom persistence.