Prevalence and symptom picture of covid-19 in people who use drugs in Oslo during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Project leader: Linda Elise Couëssurel Wüsthoff

Link OUS: Forekomst og symptombilde av covid-19 hos rusmiddelavhengige i Oslo under koronapandemien - Oslo universitetssykehus (oslo-universitetssykehus.no)

Through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2), there has been great concern about both the spread of infection and the development of severe coronavirus disease (covid-19) in people with severe substance abuse problems.

During the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection, unexpectedly few people in this group were diagnosed. This is despite extensive testing of people in municipal drug institutions, even with mild symptoms. The few who were diagnosed with infection had only mild or no symptoms of the disease. Similar experiences from abroad are reported.

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether this is due to people in this group:

1. Has not been exposed to SARS-CoV2,

2. Have asymptomatic course of the disease and therefore have not been tested, or

3. Has developed immunity to covid-19 through infection with other viral diseases in the past.