Covid-19 doubles long-term risks

Although a few days in bed are enough in the majority of cases to recover from Covid-19, the infection is not harmless for our body. A new study shows that people who were infected with the coronavirus were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, the research team, made up of scientists from the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Southern California, discovered that this risk varied greatly depending on blood type.

Their work was published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, on October 9, 2024.

Covid-19: risk of cardiac events varies by blood type

The researchers took and analyzed data from the UK Biobank from 10,005 patients who had covid-19 and 217,730 people who were not infected with the virus between February and December 2020. They then noticed that having Being contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 or its variants doubled the risk of experiencing a major cardiac event, such as a heart attack, stroke or even death. This threat persisted up to three years after diagnosis.

“The risk was significantly higher for patients hospitalized for Covid-19 and more determining than a history of heart disease,” specify the authors in a press release.

And that’s not all. Genetic analyzes allowed them to demonstrate that people with a blood type other than O (i.e. A, B or AB) were twice as likely to have cardiovascular complications after coronavirus infection.

“These results reveal that although it is an upper respiratory infection, Covid-19 has various health implications and highlight that we need to consider a history of previous Covid-19 infection when of formulating plans and goals for preventing cardiovascular disease, explains Dr. Stanley Hazen, co-author of the study. The association discovered by our research indicates a potential interaction between the virus and part of our genetic code. which determines blood type and signals the need for further research.”

Covid-19 and cardiovascular complications: this is not a minor effect

The link between Covid-19 and increased long-term cardiovascular risks, especially for patients with blood groups A, B and AB, is not a trivial discovery.

“Across the world, more than a billion people have already been infected with Covid-19. The reported results are not a minor effect on a small subgroup”notes Dr. Hazen. His co-author, Dr Allayee, specifies: “Given our collective observations and the fact that 60% of the world’s population has these non-O blood types, our study raises important questions about whether more aggressive cardiovascular risk reduction efforts should be considered, eventually. taking into account the genetic makeup of each individual.”

The two specialists add that additional research is needed to better understand the link between blood type and cardiovascular complications in covid patients.