ICMR study: Who's more at risk after leaving the hospital with COVID-19?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently published a research paper highlighting varying vulnerability to post-discharge mortality in COVID-19 cases. The study highlights three risk factors for death after discharge while also highlighting the importance of vaccinating prior to contracting the coronavirus.

"Post-discharge mortality" refers to the occurrence of death after a person has been discharged from a medical facility, such as a hospital, following treatment for a specific medical condition.

The new ICMR study, titled "Determinants of post-discharge mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients," identifies three prominent risk factors associated with post-discharge mortality among COVID-19 survivors. People over the age of 40, men with co-morbidities and individuals who endured moderate to severe COVID-19 cases have a more pronounced risk of post-charge mortality.

On a more positive note, the study reveals that those who received at least one dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine before contracting the virus experienced a 60 percent reduction in the risk of post-discharge mortality.

The research accumulated results from 14,419 participants hailing from 31 hospitals nationwide, who were followed up for a period ranging from four weeks to one-year post-discharge. 942 individuals (6.5 percent) had succumbed, while the remaining 93.5 percent were documented as alive during the year-long follow-up.

"Similar trends were seen in participants, 18-45 years of age," the ICMR team said.

While the findings offer valuable insights, the study acknowledges limitations stemming from telephonic follow-ups, which could lead to symptom underreporting. Also, the study's focus was exclusively on hospitalised COVID-19 patients, which restricts the generalisability of the conclusions to the broader population.

In parallel to this study, the ICMR is currently overseeing a multicentric hospital-based matched case-control study, which seeks to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on heart attacks among individuals aged 18–45 years in India.

Furthermore, the ICMR is actively researching factors associated with sudden deaths among adults aged 18–45 years in India.

Meanwhile, PK Mishra, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, held a high-level meeting to review the global and national COVID-19 situation in view of the new variants, Pirola (BA.2.86) and Eris (EG.5).

During the meeting, Mishra highlighted the need for states to monitor trends of influenza-like illnesses despite the stable COVID-19 situation, and prepared healthcare systems. He also focused on the need to send enough samples for genome sequencing.