Unmasking COVID-19 headaches in healthcare professionals: phenotypic continuity across infection, reinfection, vaccination and Post-COVID

Headache is a common symptom during SARS-CoV-2 infection and may persist beyond three months. Both tension-type and migraine-like headaches have been described during SARS-CoV-2 infection and after immunization. The main objective was to characterize headache phenotype during SARS-CoV-2 infection an...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Domínguez Gallego, Marta, Panos Basterra, Paula, Somovilla, Alba, González Martínez, Alicia, Ramos, Carmen, López Rodríguez, Ana Belén, Morales Caballero, Álvaro, López-Guerrero Almansa, Amparo, García Cebrián, Manuela, Vivancos Mora, José Aurelio, Gago Veiga, Ana Beatriz
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:biblosearchi::13b606f1ff8ec5a2d4e7fbc5e2d1d2c4
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10486/769340
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/covid6010014
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:migraine
COVID-19
post-COVID condition
post-COVID-19 persistent headache
headache phenotypes
vaccination
Medicina
Descripción
Sumario:Headache is a common symptom during SARS-CoV-2 infection and may persist beyond three months. Both tension-type and migraine-like headaches have been described during SARS-CoV-2 infection and after immunization. The main objective was to characterize headache phenotype during SARS-CoV-2 infection and its relationship with headache recurrence following reinfection and COVID-19 vaccination in a cohort of healthcare professionals. Secondary aims included profiling primary headaches and identifying predictors of post-COVID-19 headache persistence. We included 109 participants (86.2% women, mean age 45.3 ± 2.5 years). During infection, 49.5% met ICHD-3 criteria for tension-type headache and 12.8% for migraine. Headache recurred in 62.5% after reinfection and 59.2% after vaccination. A primary-headache history was present in 77.9% of sampled patients (25.9% migraine, 47.1% tension-type). The COVID-19 headache phenotype typically mirrored patients’ previous headache type during reinfection and post-vaccination. Persistent headache beyond three months from SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred in 22.9% and was associated with fibromyalgia and obesity. These findings suggest that COVID-19-related headache often mirrors the patient’s pre-existing primary headache and tends to recur with the same phenotype following reinfection or vaccination