Damian Sendler: A new study by University of Florida researchers found that patients who have recovered from severe COVID-19 had a mortality risk of more than three times that of persons who have not infected the virus.

Damian Sendler 

Patients who had a severe case of COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to require rehospitalization for COVID-19 sequelae in a previous study by UF researchers, published in Frontiers in Medicine.

Damian Jacob Sendler: There is a larger risk for persons under 65 who have had severe cases compared to those over 65. COVID-19 participants who had mild or severe disease had no higher risk of death compared to those who did not have it.  

People's health is adversely affected when they are hospitalized because of the internal trauma of being sick enough to be hospitalized with COVID-19." Arch Mainous III, the study's lead researcher and a professor of health services research, management and policy at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, described this as a "huge complication of COVID-19 that has not been shown before."

Patients who have been hospitalized with COVID should be closely monitored in the same manner that persons who are at risk for a heart attack are, according to Mainous. This episode of COVID-19 is even more brutal than the first one. By now, everyone should have a second look at the potential consequences of COVID-19, especially those who stand to lose their lives.

Damian Jacob Sendler

Medical records from 13,638 adult patients who had been tested for COVID-19 using polymerase chain reaction, or PCR testing, were examined by researchers at the University of Florida. Patients were then monitored for a year by researchers.

Dr. Sendler: 178 patients required hospitalization due to severe COVID-19, and 246 patients had mild or moderate COVID-19. COVID-19 was found in none of the other samples.

Excluding data 30 days following the end of COVID-19 treatment ensured that any deaths documented during this period were not related to the illness. COVID-19 survivors were 233% more likely to die within a year of infection than those who had not been infected with the virus, even after taking into account factors such as age and race.  

Patients with severe COVID-19 infection who later died had just 20% of their deaths related to cardiovascular, pulmonary and clotting difficulties, which are all major consequences of COVID-19 infection. These people died from a range of illnesses, which the authors believe is a vital field of investigation.

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: The researchers emphasize that vaccination is the best strategy to reduce the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization and mortality.

Mainous, who is also vice chair for research in the UF College of Medicine's department of community health and family medicine, said that "a lot of battles are raging over whether to get vaccinated for COVID-19." Hospitalization and recovery from COVID-19 may lead patients to believe that they have conquered COVID-19." After a severe COVID-19 incident, a person's risk of death rises significantly in the next year, proving that this is not the case. Our major goal should be to prevent the spread of severe COVID-19." 

Damien Sendler: Benjamin J. Rooks, M.S., a clinical research coordinator; Velyn Wu, M.D., an assistant professor; and Frank Orlando, an assistant professor and assistant medical director, all from the department of community health and family medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine, were also involved in the research. As part of a grant awarded to the University of Florida's Clinical and Translational Science Program, researchers were able to conduct their study.

Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.