People at risk of future heart disease and stroke may be at greater risk for severe COVID-19

According to new research presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), people at high risk of having a stroke or heart attack in the next decade who contract COVID-19 are nearly three times more likely to be hospitalised, six times more likely to die from COVID-19.

For this study, researchers used the electronic medical records of 949,973 adults (aged 40-84 years) registered at GP practices across England. Of the 949,973 adults included in the study, 12% had existing cardiovascular disease (CVD), 32% were classed as being at raised risk of CVD and 56% at low risk. A total of 4,017 of these participants (average age 58 years, 50% male) were diagnosed with COVID-19 between 12 March and 29 September, 2020. Among 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 hospitalisation 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 (4.9 cases per 1,000 vs 4.5 cases per 1,000, respectively).