Survivors of severe COVID-19 may be at higher risk of dying within a year

The COVID-19 Severe is related to an increased risk of dying within 12 months of having overcome the disease, especially among those under 65 years of age and from causes that are not directly related to the usual complications of SARS-CoV-2.

A study led by the University of Florida (United States) and published by Frontiers in Medicine suggests that patients who survive the worst forms of covid-19 they experience a general deterioration in health that makes them vulnerable to other ailments.

Therefore, the authors emphasize the importance of vaccines, which are effective in preventing hospitalization and serious illness due to coronavirus.

Research indicates that those recovering from severe covid-19 have more than double the risk of dying in the year following their recovery, compared to those who experience the disease mildly, moderately or those who do not become infected.

The team tracked the electronic medical records of 13,638 patients who underwent PCR, of which 178 had covid-19 severe, 246 mild or moderate and the rest were negative in the test.

The results indicated that

Those who spent a covid-19 mild or moderate “did not have a significantly higher mortality risk” compared to the uninfected, highlighting the importance of reducing the chances of severe disease through vaccination.

Regarding the causes of death,

80% of deaths occurred for a wide variety of reasons that are not usually associated with coronavirus, suggesting that the patients had experienced a general deterioration in their health that made them vulnerable to various ailments, according to the study.

The same team had already published similar research, the results of which indicated that recovering severely ill covid-19 patients had “a significantly higher risk of being hospitalized in the following six months,” explained Arch Mainous, from the University of Florida and lead author of the study.

Mainous stressed that it is now known that there is “a substantial risk of dying from what would probably be considered an unrecognized complication of covid-19, we have to be even more vigilant to reduce serious episodes”, for which he recommended the use of measures preventive such as vaccination.

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