Scientists found that people with an elevated risk of developing a stroke or heart attack over the next 10 years who contract COVID-19, are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized and require treatment in intensive care, and six times as likely to die from COVID-19.
The research was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and was conducted by Jennifer Davidson et al from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
In the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic health conditions such as CVD have been linked to the most severe outcomes including hospitalizations and deaths.
CVD includes coronary heart disease (angina and heart attack), stroke, and transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes).
However, people at raised heart risk, but without existing CVD, have not been identified as a risk group for severe COVID-19.
In the study, the team used the electronic medical records of 949,973 adults (aged 40–84 years) registered at GP practices across England.
They calculated the incidence and risk of COVID-19 as well as severe COVID-19 among adults with raised and low heart risk.
The team found in those with COVID-19 (4,017 people), the overall death rate was 219 per 1,000 (576 people), ICU admission was 60 per 1,000 (159) and hospitalization was 414 per 1,000 (1,091).
The researchers found that the likelihood of COVID-19 infection was similar among individuals with raised and low cardiovascular risk.
However, rates of death (311 per 1,000 vs 24 per 1,000), ICU admission (97 per 1,000 vs 36 per 1,000) and hospitalization (607 per 1,000 vs 169 per 1,000) were much higher in those with higher heart risk.
Compared to the low heart risk group, those at raised heart risk were six times as likely to die from COVID-19, and had three times the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 or admitted to the ICU.
The team says it is important that people at greater risk of developing heart disease should be encouraged to take up COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
The researchers are currently updating their findings in a dataset of over 6 million individuals.
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