People with weakened immune systems remain more likely to die if hospitalised with Covid-19 than patients with normal immune systems, according to a new study.
Researchers found that as the pandemic progressed the risk of death for all patients decreased, but at a greater rate for patients with fully functioning immune systems compared with immunocompromised patients.
Increased risk
The research – part of the world’s largest study of hospitalised patients with the disease – analysed data from more than 150,000 adult UK hospital patients between January 2020 and February 2022.
The team, which included researchers from Universities of Edinburgh, Liverpool and Birmingham, showed that immunocompromised patients overall had a 44 per cent higher risk of death in hospital than patients with normal immune systems.
The difference between the two groups remained even accounting for other important factors such as age, sex and the presence of other chronic medical conditions.
Vaccination
Despite the benefits of vaccination, immunocompromised patients still lag behind the general patient population in the improvements in outcomes after hospitalisation, experts say.
The research team urged policy makers to note the increased risk of death in this patient group and say targeted interventions such as antiviral treatments, antibodies, and non-pharmaceutical interventions – such as face coverings and social distancing – should continue to be used.
The findings have been published in PLOS Medicine and is delivered as part of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium’s (ISARIC) Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK.
The work was funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
“The risk of dying for all patients hospitalised with COVID-19 fell across the pandemic. However, the risk decreased less for patients with a compromised immune system, for example due to cancer or immunosuppressant drugs. They remain a high-risk group in whom we should target our interventions to improve survival and quality of life.”
