People hospitalized by a serious episode of COVID-19 are far from being free of risk after recovering enough to return home, says a recent study.
According to a new study published in the magazine Infectious desirepatients hospitalized by COVID have a higher risk of death for any cause for at least two and a half years after their initial disease.
They are also more likely to be hospitalized again, with a particularly high risk of presenting neurological, psychiatric, cardiac and pulmonary problems, as the researchers found.
“These findings are a clear reminder of the long-range impact of the COVID-19, which extends far beyond the initial infection,” said the principal researcher, Dr. Sarah Tubiana, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Bichat Hospital, in Paris.
“Although much attention has been paid to the immediate dangers of the virus, our research shows that survivors hospitalized by COVID-19 continue to have a higher risk of serious health complications months, and even years, then,” Tubiana added. “The long -term implications for public health are significant.”
In the study, the researchers followed up to almost 64,000 French adults who were hospitalized with Covid between January and August 2020.
The team compared its state of health with that of almost 320,000 people matched by age, sex and geographical location, which had not been hospitalized by Covid during the same period.
During a follow-up of up to 30 months, the researchers found that survivors hospitalized by COVID-19 had a higher death rate for any cause: 5,218 deaths per 100,000 people-yearcompared to 4,013 deaths In the control group.
Also, Covid survivors were hospitalized more frequently: 16,334 hospitalizations per 100,000 people-yearin front of 12,024 hospitalizations In the control group.
Specifically, patients with a history of hospitalization by COVID had the double chances of being hospitalized again due to respiratory problems. They also presented:
- a 15 % more probabilities of hospitalization by heart conditions,
- a 41 % more by psychiatric disorders,
- and a 50 % more due to neurological diseases.
While these excessive risks were reduced after the first six months after hospital discharge, They remained elevated until 30 months In the case of neurological and respiratory diseases, chronic renal failure and diabetes, according to the study.
“Even 30 months after hospitalization, patients with COVID-19 continued to present a higher risk of death or serious health complications, which reflects the last and deep consequences of the disease in people’s lives,” said the senior researcher, Dr. Charles Burdet, a specialist in infectious diseases of the University Paris Cité.
“These results highlight the need to carry out more research to understand the mechanisms that explain these long -term risks and how to mitigate them,” he added.
The researchers recalled that the covid can cause damage to multiple organs and body systems, especially in severe or potentially mortal cases.
However, they also clarified that these findings They could not be fully applied to hospitalized patients more recentlysince the study focused on infected people before the emergence of new crown variants.