Urgent warning to anyone who’s had Covid over ‘40% increased risk of agonising diseases’
MOST people who catch Covid-19 recover within a few days, with the majority having cold-like symptoms.
However, medics have now issued a warning after it was found that those who’ve had the bug are at a 40 per cent increased risk of agonising diseases.
Medics in Germany revealed that it’s after the ‘acute infection phase’ that you could develop autoimmune issues.
This refers to the three to four week period after you first develop Covid.
And after looking at data from over 2million people, the researchers said their risk of illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis increased if they’d had the bug.
Vaccines have helped protect millions of people from severe illness and the new study highlights the importance of being up to date with the immunisations.
While infections are still low, Covid cases have started to climb once again in the UK, so it’s key that you book in for your jabs.
It’s the fourth week in a row that hospital admissions from the bug have risen this week, experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
The current strain in circulation is causing less severe illness, but the new study shows that risks from Covid can continue long after you develop the bug.
The medics in Germany found those infected also had a higher risk of developing Hashimoto thyroiditis and Sjögren syndrome.
Writing in medRxiv, medics at University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, said those with more severe Covid were more likely to develop further illness.
The medics looked at people who had been diagnosed with a new autoimmune illness in the three to 15 months after testing positive for Covid.
They then compared rates to those who hadn’t caught it.
Around 10 per cent of people in the study already had some form of autoimmune disease.
But in those who didn’t have a history of illness, 15 per cent developed an autoimmune condition for the first time after catching the bug.
This compares to around 11 per cent of those who hadn’t had Covid.
Among participants who already had a debilitating condition, those who caught the bug were 23 per cent more likely to develop an autoimmune condition within 15 months.
The medics looks at around 30 illnesses and found that Covid was most linked to an increased risk of vasculitis.
The NHS states that this is inflammation of the blood vessels which can be triggered by an infection or medicine.
“Vasculitis can range from a minor problem that just affects the skin, to a more serious illness that causes problems with organs like the heart or kidneys,” guidance states.
People who had an underlying condition were 63 per cent more likely to develop this than those who had no previous ailment.
Thyroid issues and skin condition psoriasis were also linked to prior infection, as was rheumatoid arthritis, which causes swelling in the joints.
Previous studies have revealed that Covid infection has lead to inflammatory conditions.
Writing in The Lancet in January this year, medics in the US found that those who had Covid showed higher risk of a variety of autoimmune conditions.
Medics said that factors that may account for an increased risk of autoimmune diseases include genetic features, lifestyle characteristics, and environmental exposures to bacteria, viruses, and toxic doses of drugs and metals.
In April 2020, a report published by researchers in the US found that Covid can cause inflammation in the brain.
In May 2020, the bug was also linked to a Kawasaki-like inflammatory condition which was affecting young children.
And in May 2022, medics in Glasgow found patients also presented with myocarditis, inflammation of the heart, after contracting the bug.
The results showed that one in eight patients were struck with myocarditis.
The condition may cause chest pain or breathlessness just walking up the stairs, flu-like symptoms such as a high temperature and fatigue, or heart palpitations.
Recovery from Covid infection has also been linked with the development of a number of chronic conditions.
This includes type 2 diabetes, mental health issues, blood clots, brain damage, heart attack all of which have been shown in research to be more commonly diagnosed in those who have had Covid.