ONE IN TWO HOSPITALIZED COVID-19 PATIENTS DEVELOP ORGAN COMPLICATION: STUDY

Fri 16 July 2021:

One in every two persons hospitalised with COVID-19had developed at least one problem affecting key organs of the body, according to research published in The Lancet.

Though difficulties were most likely in persons over the age of 50, the study discovered that younger people were also at risk.

The authors say these complications are likely to have important short- and long-term impacts for patients, healthcare utilisation, healthcare system preparedness, and society amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They also note that these complications are different to long COVID symptoms in patients with COVID-19 who were not hospitalised.

The sickness had impacted the kidney, heart, and lungs of patients who had to attend hospitalisation after being infected with the virus, according to a survey of more than 70,000 people in 302 UK hospitals. Age of comorbidity was not a prominent factor in these cases.

“This work contradicts current narratives that COVID-19 is only dangerous in people with existing comorbidities and the elderly. Dispelling and contributing to the scientific debate around such narratives has become increasingly important,” Calum Semple, chief investigator of the study and a professor at the University of Liverpool, UK, said in a statement.

Sixty-six per cent of the 73,197 patients tested were men, 81% had an underlying health condition, 74% were Caucasian, and the average age of the cohort was 71 years.

Over 12% of those questioned were under the age of 49. Almost one-third of the study’s participants died.

Overall, 50% of all individuals experienced problems, with 44% of those who survived experiencing them.

The authors warn that policymakers must consider the risk of complications for those who survive COVID-19, not just mortality, when making decisions around easing restrictions. The authors predict that COVID-19 complications are likely to cause significant challenges for individuals and for the health and social care system in the coming years. Policy makers and health-care planners should anticipate that large amounts of health and social care resources will be required to support those who survive COVID-19.

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