People hospitalised with flu at increased risk of longer-term health problems: Study

A recent study has suggested that people who have been hospitalised with flu are at an increased risk of long-term illness. The study, published in the Lancet journal on Thursday (Dec 14) analysed data of81,280 patients in the United States who were hospitalised for Covidbetween March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022, and 10,985 patients who were hospitalised for seasonal influenzabetween Oct 1, 2015, and Feb 28, 2019.

"Previous comparative analyses of people admitted to hospital for COVID-19 versus influenza evaluated the risk of death, hospital readmission, and a narrow set of health outcomes up to 6 months following infection," the study said.

The findings

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The study's participants were followed up for up to 18 months "to comparatively evaluate risks and burdens of death, a prespecified set of 94 individual health outcomes, 10 organ systems, overall burden across all organ systems, readmission, and admission to intensive care."

The study said that over 18 months of follow-up, compared to seasonal influenza, patients in the Covid group had an increased risk of death. "Comparative analyses of 94 prespecified health outcomes showed that COVID-19 had an increased risk of 68·1% (64 of 94) pre-specified health outcomes; seasonal influenza was associated with an increased risk of 6·4% (six of 94) pre-specified health outcomes, including three out of four pre-specified pulmonary outcomes," it added.

An analysis of organ systems showed that Covid had a higher risk acrossall organ systems except for the pulmonary system, the risk of which was higher in seasonal influenza.

'Covid patients associated with higher risks of death'

The study further said that although the rates ofdeath and adverse health outcomes following hospital admission for either seasonal influenza or Covid were high, the comparative analysis showed that Covid-linked hospitalisations wereassociated with higher long-term risks of death and adverse health outcomes in nearly every organ system (except for the pulmonary system).

"The substantial cumulative burden of health loss in both groups calls for greater prevention of hospital admission for these two viruses and for greater attention to the care needs of people with long-term health effects due to either seasonal influenza or SARS-CoV-2 infection," the study added.

Speaking to The Guardian, the study's lead author Dr Ziyad Al-Aly from Washington University said, "Many people think they’re over COVID-19 or the flu after being discharged from the hospital. That may be true for some people. But our research shows that both viruses can cause long-haul illness."

“Some people are ending up with serious long-term health issues. We need to wake up to this reality and stop trivialising viral infections and understand that they are major drivers of chronic diseases,” Dr Al-Aly added.

(With inputs from agencies)