COVID-19 complications could strain health system for years

Half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 developed complications associated with the virus, and experts worry those problems could strain the health system for years.

Half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 developed complications associated with the virus, prompting experts to warn that long-term problems from COVID could strain the health system for years, according to new research out of the United Kingdom. The study, published Thursday in the Lancet, analyzed hospital records from 73,197 adults in the U.K. who were hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Of those patients, 36,367 developed one or more complications during their hospitalization, including kidney problems, complex respiratory disease (such as bacterial pneumonia), acute respiratory distress syndrome, neurological problems (like seizures or stroke) and heart problems. Overall, men and patients older than 60 were most likely to have complications, and the incidence of complications rose with age. Still, even young and previously healthy people had relatively high levels of complications. Among 19- to 29-year-olds, 27% developed complications, compared with 37% of 30- to 39-year-olds and 43% of 40- to 49-year-olds. "This work contradicts current narratives that COVID-19 is only dangerous in people with existing comorbidities and the elderly," Calum Semple, a professor at the University of Liverpool and coauthor of the paper, said in a statement. "Disease severity at admission is a predictor of complications even in younger adults, so prevention of complications requires a primary prevention strategy, meaning vaccination."