Study finds COVID-19 survivors at high risk of death within 12 months

Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic at the end of 2019, the global cumulative number of COVID-19 infections has exceeded 267 million, the death toll has exceeded 5.27 million, and the number of new infections is still increasing at a rate of nearly 700,000 per day. The situation is quite serious.

When the COVID-19 outbreak first occurred, many people were optimistic that the virus would disappear after a short outbreak, just like SARS did. However, as the virus continued to spread around the world, variants such as beta, delta, and omicron continued to emerge, and people suddenly realized that the virus might coexist with humans for a long time in the future.

Therefore, we must fully understand the harm of the new coronavirus to humans and minimize the harm of the new coronavirus to humans as much as possible.

Recently, a research team led by Dr. Arch G. Mainous from the Department of Community Health and Family Medicine at the University of Florida, USA, conducted a follow-up analysis of 13,638 participants and found that compared with mild patients and ordinary people, those with severe COVID-19 infection have a significantly increased risk of death in the next 12 months.

In this regard, Dr. Mainous said, "Our research shows that severe COVID-19 infection can leave obvious sequelae and significantly increase the risk of death in the future. Therefore, preventing severe COVID-19 infection is very necessary to reduce the mortality rate of COVID-19. The current COVID-19 vaccine can not only prevent COVID-19 infection, but also reduce the severity of COVID-19 infection, which further demonstrates the value of vaccination in preventing COVID-19-related deaths."

The study, titled “COVID-19 Post-acute Sequelae Among Adults: 12 Month Mortality Risk,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Frontiers in Medicine.

The sequelae of COVID-19 cannot be ignored

COVID-19 has been raging around the world for nearly two years. People are still helpless against this epidemic. Many countries have even simply laid low and allowed the virus to spread. However, to date, people are still uncertain about the harm of COVID-19 and its impact on the world. In addition to directly causing hospitalization and death of patients, COVID-19 infection will also leave a series of sequelae that continue to endanger the health of patients.

The first is lung damage. Some COVID-19 patients will continue to have lung problems after they recover and are discharged from the hospital, such as hyperplasia of pulmonary fibrosis, which leads to pulmonary fibrosis, or symptoms such as fatigue and muscle weakness. Clinically, many patients still have sequelae such as cough and fatigue after recovery. After returning to work, some people cannot even take a short walk due to shortness of breath and muscle soreness.

The second is damage to the liver and kidneys. Previously, a paper titled "Caution on Kidney Dysfunctions of 2019-nCoV Patients" studied 59 COVID-19 infected patients and found that nearly 63% of patients showed symptoms of renal insufficiency, and CT scans showed that 100% of patients had abnormal renal imaging. Experts in the UK and Canada also found that 8%-12% of COVID-19 patients receiving intensive care developed liver or kidney failure and needed to rely on long-term dialysis treatment to survive.

In addition, the new coronavirus can also cause a series of damage to human cardiovascular and cerebrovascular and other organs. In addition to patients in the acute infection period, COVID-19 infected people will have sequelae such as persistent pulmonary diffusion disorder and dyspnea. Some patients will also have poor coagulation, brain damage, myocardial damage, etc. after recovery. In addition, women may experience sleep disorders, hair loss, joint pain and other minor discomforts.

A recent review paper published by Nature also pointed out that COVID-19 infection in men can also reduce fertility. Specifically, COVID-19 requires a serine protease called TMPRSS2 in addition to the ACE2 receptor when invading human cells. The testicles express both proteins, making them more susceptible to COVID-19 virus infection and cell damage. After COVID-19 infects testicular tissue, it can affect sperm production and quality in a variety of ways, such as damaging the blood-testis barrier, affecting immunity, disrupting hormone balance, or directly damaging spermatogonia.

The risk of death remains significantly increased after recovery

Previously, research on the sequelae of COVID-19 infection has mainly focused on the acute infection period, including the risk of hospitalization caused by complications in the acute period, etc., but the sequelae after the acute period are still unknown. Some studies have shown that the risk of death in patients infected with COVID-19 may still exist after the acute period, but the specific situation is still unclear.

In order to clarify the risk of death after the acute phase of COVID-19 infection, the research team led by Dr. Mainous followed up 13,638 participants who received nucleic acid monitoring in the US health monitoring system from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 for 12 months and analyzed their electronic health records. Among the 13,638 participants, 178 were diagnosed with severe COVID-19 infection, 246 were diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection, and 13,214 were COVID-19 negative.

(Source: ilgiornale.it)

The results showed that compared with patients with negative COVID-19 and mild to moderate infection, patients with severe COVID-19 had a significantly increased (adjusted) risk of all-cause mortality within 12 months after discharge.

Specifically, among the elderly over 65 years old, the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 infection increased by 150% and 87% respectively compared with those with negative COVID-19 and mild to moderate infection. Among the young and middle-aged population under 65 years old, the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 infection also increased by 233% and 183% compared with those with negative COVID-19 and mild to moderate infection.

That is to say, whether it is the elderly or the young and middle-aged population, the risk of death in the next year will be significantly increased after severe COVID-19 infection, especially for people under 65 years old, who have a higher risk of death.

At the same time, the study also found that only 20% of these patients died of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases related to COVID-19 infection, and the remaining 80% died of other causes rather than deaths directly caused by COVID-19. This once again confirms that severe COVID-19 infection will leave obvious sequelae and continue to cause serious harm to the human body.

In addition, there was no significant difference in the risk of death in the next 12 months between patients with moderate and mild COVID-19 infection and those with COVID-19 negative infection. Clearly, preventing severe COVID-19 infection can significantly reduce the risk of death after COVID-19 infection.

Overall, Dr. Mainous's research shows that, consistent with previous observations, the severity of COVID-19 infection has a significant impact on the sequelae of COVID-19 infection, and those with severe COVID-19 infection have a significantly increased risk of death in the next 12 months, and neither the elderly nor the young and middle-aged are immune.

This study not only provides a reference for people to understand the sequelae of COVID-19 infection, but also provides theoretical guidance for countries and regions around the world to better fight the COVID-19 epidemic. Obviously, the most effective measure to prevent severe COVID-19 infection is to actively get vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, as the COVID-19 epidemic develops further in the future, it is very necessary for countries to complete the COVID-19 vaccination work as soon as possible to reduce COVID-19 deaths.

References:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.778434/full#h5

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2021-12-01-severe-covid-increases-death-risk-in-following-year

Written by: Zhu Hengheng Edited by: Wang Haha Layout by: Li Xuewei

Source: Academic Headlines