Urgent warning to anyone who’s had Covid over fatal complication that strikes months later
PEOPLE who had coronavirus in the last few months could be at risk of fatal complications, experts have warned.
New research has found that people who have survived Covid-19 are 63 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack - irrespective of pre-existing conditions and age.
The paper, published in , shows how important getting the vaccine is when it comes to protecting our health.
Millions of people have now received booster vaccines and health experts have repeatedly said that jabs are the best way to keep everyone safe from Omicron.
Omicron has been found to be milder than the other variants that came before it and the new study, by experts at Washington University in St Louis, US, focused on the first year of health after contracting Covid.
This means that study participants would have likely been suffering with the original strain of Covid or the Alpha strain, which was discovered in December 2020 in Kent.
The experts stated that there was an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in those who were not vaccinated.
However, the majority of people analysed for the study contracted the virus before they had a vaccine.
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Analysis of 150,000 Covid-positive people found that the rate of conditions such as coronary disease, strokes and heart failure, was noticeably higher in those who were infected compared to those who had not.
The researchers said that this difference was also visible in people who had mild cases of the virus - so may not have been hospitalised with the bug.
In order to compare, they looked at the results of the 150,000 patients against 11 million people people who never contracted the virus.
The experts said that Covid can linger well beyond actually being infected.
The risk of heart attack increased by 63 per cent after Covid, and the risk of suffering from coronary artery disease or a stroke, was higher at 72 per cent and 52 per cent.
The UK government has invested in Long Covid centres across the country, after it was reported that as many as one in five people were suffering long-lasting symptoms of the virus.
The experts highlighted that both governments and health systems around the world should be prepared to deal with a 'rise in the burden of cardiovascular diseases'.
“Because of the chronic nature of these conditions, they will likely have long-lasting consequences for patients and health systems and also have broad implications on economic productivity and life expectancy", they added.
The signs of a heart attack you should never ignore
The NHS states that you should call 999 if your sudden chest pain also sits alongside a pain that spreads to your arms, back neck or jaw.
You should also seek immediate help if your chest pain is accompanied by a tight or heavy chest, it started with shortness of breath, sweating or being sick or it lasts more than 15 minutes.
Call 999 as you might be having a heart attack and you need immediate treatment in hospital.
Heart attack symptoms can be difficult to spot for sure, because they can vary from person to person.
The most common signs include:
- chest pain, tightness, heaviness, pain or a burning feeling in your chest
- pain in the arms, neck, jaw, back or stomach
- for some people the pain and tightness will be severe, while for others it will just feel uncomfortable
- sweating
- feeling light-headed
- becoming short of breath
- feeling nauseous or vomiting
It was recently reported that footballer Pierre-Emerick was suffering from minor heart problems related to coronavirus.
He had been diagnosed with Covid in January and was dealing with 'minor heart issues'.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies also stopped training with the Bundesliga champions due to a heart scare that occurred after he caught coronavirus.
Signs of mild myocarditis were discovered as Davies completed routine medical checks at Bayern's HQ after recovering from the virus.
Professor Paul Hunt, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia said it's likely that the risk of cardiovascular issues will fall as time goes on.
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"It’s a bit like smoking. When you’re smoking you have a certain increased risk, but it falls the year after you stop - and if you survive the year you have even less risk… we don’t know from this study how long the increased risk of heart disease lasts", he told .
He added that it's possible that people with jabs would have less of a risk of these complications than the unvaccinated but that there was not yet certain evidence for this.