Study in almost a million adults in England finds that people at risk of heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years (but without existing cardiovascular disease) are at substantially greater risk of becoming seriously unwell with COVID-19

New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Lisbon, Portugal (23-26 April), suggests that people with elevated risk of developing a stroke or heart attack over the next 10 years (but without existing cardiovascular disease [CVD]) who contract COVID-19, are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalised and require treatment in intensive care, and six times as likely to die from COVID-19, compared to those at low cardiovascular risk.

The study by Jennifer Davidson and Dr Charlotte Warren-Gash from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues, was conducted using data from the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, and included information on almost a million adults from across England.

The researchers say the findings emphasise the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and investing in strategies to improve cardiovascular health that could reduce the severity of COVID-19 across the population.

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