In hypertensive patients, the risk of serious Covid can double – breaking latest news

Having undergone the complete vaccination course against Sars-Cov-2 it helps reduce mortality and some of the most serious side effects of the infection. This is now established. However, with the appearance of the Omicron variantwho hypertensive can meet severe forms of Covid and needing hospitalization. Even if he had received two doses of the vaccine, plus the booster. These are the conclusions reached by the group led by Joseph E. Ebinger Researcher in Cardiology and Director of Clinical Analysis at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The study was published in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association.

The impact

The impact of high blood pressure on serious Covid-19 disease it persisted even in the absence of other chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, kidney disease or heart failure. These findings are important because about half of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, says Ebinger, the lead author of the study. Scientists have not yet made it clear what the biological mechanism may be underlying the connection between hypertension and severe Covid-19.

As a study published last February in Nature showed by a group of researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, coordinated by Professor Ziyad Al-Aly, the infection can cause post-acute cardiovascular manifestations one year later. And it proved that, as early as 30 days later, patients present an increased risk of cardiovascular disease covering several categories, including cerebrovascular disorders, arrhythmias, ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure and thromboembolic disease.

Not just the elderly

Although Ebinger and the other researchers have not differentiated in this study which sub-variants of Omicron were present in this study group, they sought to understand the characteristics associated with people who had cases of Covid-19 severe enough to require hospital care despite having completed the vaccination course and a booster dose. Our data found that it’s not just older people with other underlying health conditions who are vulnerable, Ebinger points out. Omicron can affect adults of any age, especially those with hypertension, even if they do not suffer from other major chronic diseases. The people most at risk are not necessarily who we think they are. They are not the sickest of the sick, and this was a surprising discovery.

The implantation of the studio

The researchers conducted one retrospective cohort study of 912 adults who had received at least three doses of a mRNA vaccine
(Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration) and were treated during a wave of Omicron, between December 2021 and April 2022, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Demographic information was also reviewed, including age, sex, race, ethnicity, and clinical data from electronic health records. Scientists identified key variables and clinical featuressuch as the presence of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, heart attack, heart failure, and previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma.

Hypertensive people risk two and a half times more

Of the 912 adults who received three doses of an mRNA vaccine, nearly 16% needed hospitalization. Older age, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, heart attack, heart failure, and the time between last vaccination and Covid-19 infection have all been associated with increased hospitalization risks. Individuals with high blood pressure were 2.6 times more likely to seek hospital care for severe Covid, even when the person had no other serious chronic health conditions. Of the 145 patients admitted to the hospital, 125 (86.2%) had high blood pressure.

We need to raise awareness and understanding of the fact that receiving three doses of a vaccine may not prevent severe Covid in everyone, especially among people with high blood pressure. According to the researchers, more studies are needed on how to reduce the risks of serious Covid infection, both through more personalized vaccination regimenseither with new therapies or a combined approach.