Marc VeldhoenLong-term outcomes following hospital admission for COVID-19 versus seasonal influenza: a cohort study
Infections can enhance underlying health issues and infections can cause long-term problems....but do not overinterpret this study!!
Summary:
People with underlying health conditions can get more ill when infected. More so with a virus against which they have no previous immunity than one they have encountered many times prior.
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People with underlying health conditions can get more ill when infected. More so with a virus against which they have no previous immunity than one they have encountered many times prior.
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The paper shows this is a comparison of the same particular cohort that has been much abused and incorrectly interpreted. This is also a very very specific cohort, veterans, male, older, hospitalised, and many underlying health issues.
The comparison is here, showing it compares SARS-CoV-2, during a pandemic time and largely without prior immunity, with an endemic virus, against which the subjects have built up immunity during their lives. A bit 🍎🍐 at this time.
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All were hospitalised: this is not representative of the general population. There are many health issues, that are not caused by the infection, although some may have been worsened. Again, not representative for the population.
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Lacking; within the cohort, subjects without either infection. What was the starting point of the subjects before infection? This is critical information to make any conclusions about potential causality. This is just not a healthy cohort,
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the most unhealthy who have been hospitalised for Covid-19 or flu causing much selection bias. This is not meaningful to draw conclusions from which infection is worse or any longterm consequences. Unfortunately, that is already reported everywhere.
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Please journalists and anyone reporting on this, be more cautious and read the study in full, speak to others in the field before reporting on this study: is can be damaging otherwise.
dushy911@marc_veld Thanks for your interpretation on this. 60% of the US population have some sort of chronic illness though (pre diabetes/diabetes/copd etc.). So although the vet population in hospital will be higher, with the metabolic issues in western populations we're really not healthy past our 20s.
@dushy911 that is correct and worrying. But this is on average still much better than this VA cohort. That means the data needs to take into account the many preexisting confounders, most of which have no causal relation with influenza or SARS-CoV-2 infection. Besides, those two can also not be directly compared.