December 15, 2022: More than 3500 Americans died from COVID in the early years of the pandemic, a new CDC report reveals. Men, others over age 75, and American/Alaska Native populations had the highest risk of death.
The CDC is “certainly very disappointing,” says William Schaffner, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
New data shows that prolonged COVID is more severe than many other people considered in the past, he says. “We know that prolonged COVID is not unusual and causes a lot of pain to many patients. Fortunately, over time, many of those patients get better. »
However, “we now see in the CDC report that, in fact, some other people are going to die,” says Schaffner, who is also medical director of the National Infectious Diseases Foundation.
Researchers at CDC’s Center for Health Statistics reviewed the death certificate that indexed long-term COVID (or chronic COVID, long-distance COVID, post-COVID syndrome, and others) as a cause of death or contributing factor. They compared those certificates to medical records with a code related to COVID-19.
They met 3544 Americans who died from prolonged COVID from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022. This organization is a fraction of the 1. 02 million other people who died from COVID-19 this period. Their findings are published in the December 2022 issue of the CDC. Rapid publication report of vital statistics.
“I think the study is desirable and interesting. It raises the consequences of COVID even after we’ve finished focusing on the acute infection itself,” says Thomas Gut, DO, associate director of medicine and medical director of Post-COVID Recovery. Center at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City.
It’s still early, he says. ” This is the tip of the iceberg. . . because of the consequences that we are going to face in the long term. “
As for the 3500 deaths, “I think it’s a small number overall,” Gut says. “There are probably many more people who have died. We probably missed a lot of COVID at first, without knowing it.
Pre-pandemic death certificates are unlikely to have acute COVID infection as a cause of death 3 to 6 months later, for example, Gut says. In the future, this could change. Long COVID is a chronic disease, so it’s more likely to be indexed on a death certificate.
Some at high risk
More than a portion of long-term COVID-related deaths, 57%, occurred in others over the age of 75. In addition, men accounted for 51. 5% of deaths due to the long duration of COVID.
In addition, 79% of deaths from the long duration of COVID were among non-Hispanic whites, followed by 10% of non-Hispanic blacks and about 8% of Hispanics.
Although non-Hispanic/Alaskan Native American Indians suffered less than 2% of all COVID-related deaths in the study, they emerged as a high-risk organization in a separate analysis. Its age-adjusted death rate for the long duration of COVID was the highest, with 14. 8 deaths consistent with 1 million people. In contrast, non-Hispanic Asians had the lowest age-adjusted death rate at 1. 5 consistent with 1 million.
Minority teams like American Indians and Alaska Natives “have been disproportionately affected by the virus since the pandemic began, and they’ve also been among the hardest to succeed and deliver the vaccine,” Schaffner says.
This report shows that efforts to succeed in those underserved communities remain critical, he says. “We have to keep doing it, and if we needed an explanation of why to do it, here it is. “
CDC researchers will offer a grim explanation for why the highest long-term COVID death rates among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics were not found in the study, those teams have higher COVID-19 death rates: Many COVID-19 patients in those teams most likely died from their original illness before they can spread COVID to long term.
Something from the study
While the medical network continues to be informed and recognizes the long-term COVID burden and medical professionals are more the term, there is a lot of variability as we do not yet have a unified diagnosis of this disease.
“The fact that the number of labeled COVID deaths over time has increased over time may just be the result of increased awareness in the medical community, so it is very complicated to draw express conclusions from this study,” says Fidaa Shaib, MD, associate professor of medicine in the pulmonary care section. intensive care and sleep medicine, and director of the post-COVID care clinic at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Although the study found more deaths in men, “our experience and the experience of others have shown that PASC [post-acute COVID sequelae] or prolonged COVID patients are more commonly middle-aged women. “
Shaib discusses some of the limitations of the study. Some reasons for prolonged death from COVID may stem from other disorders, such as central disease, that increase the threat of death from acute COVID-19 itself. Also, the knowledge didn’t come with data on the time between the original COVID-19 illness and the time of death. “Therefore, the long diagnosis of PASC/COVID will not be very accurate. “
“Overall, this is a smart start to draw more attention to the severity of acute and long-term COVID illnesses,” Shaib says, “but faster knowledge is needed. “
Keeping “the pedal on the metal”
Avoiding COVID-19 in the top position remains the counter-prolonged-COVID policy, Schaffner says. Like many public health officials, he stressed the importance of staying on top of COVID vaccines as the most effective strategy.
“As a population, the EE. UU. no have taken enough credit for the free and very effective reinforcements that exist lately. “The most recent CDC estimates report that 13. 5% of Americans over the age of five have gained booster doses to date.
For this reason, “we have to keep the pedal on the metal, trying to get the message across,” Schaffner says.
“This holiday season, the gift you can give yourself, your family, your loved ones and your friends is to get the booster, and bring some of them with you when you get the vaccine so they too can get the booster.
SOURCES:
William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville.
Thomas Gut, DO, Associate Chair of Medicine and Medical Director, Post-COVID Recovery Center, Staten Island University Hospital, New York.
Fidaa Shaib, MD, associate professor of medicine, pulmonary, care and sleep medicine, and director of the Post-COVID Care Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
CDC: “Identification of deaths with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 from the literal of the death certificate: United States, January 1, 2020-June 30, 2022”, “COVID Data Tracker”.
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