A study with samples from the UK Biobank from March to November 2020 shows that post acute phase infection with the coronavirus entails a greatly increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. All participants in the study had similar characteristics (age, gender, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, weight, cardiovascular disease, social situation). The average age was 66 years.
Mortality increases up to 81-fold in the first three weeks after infection, but even after 18 months it is still five-fold that of uninfected people. Compared to the two groups of non-infected people, Covid-19 patients had about four times the risk of developing severe cardiovascular diseases in the acute phase (three weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection). Also in the period after the acute illness (up to 18 month) this risk was also increased by 40 percent. The results of the study suggest that Covid-19 patients should be monitored for at least one year after recovery from the acute illness to detect cardiovascular complications from the infection, which also are a part of Long Covid, the European Society of Cardiology says.