COVID hospitalization tied to 69% higher risk of death for up to 2 years

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COVID-19

A new large cohort study in Isreal suggests that adults who survive a COVID hospitalization face significantly higher long-term mortality than their uninfected peers, with elevated risk persisting for 2 years after hospitalization. The findings were published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Drawing on electronic health records from Clalit Health Services, one of the largest healthcare organizations in Isreal, researchers tracked 16,445 matched pairs aged 40 and older who were hospitalized for COVID between March 2020 and December 2021 and who survived at least 30 days after being discharged. Each patient was matched to an uninfected individual by age, sex, and comorbidities.

COVID survivors had a 69% higher mortality risk than their uninfected peers. All-cause mortality was 4.91 deaths per 1,000 person-months among COVID survivors, compared with 2.63 among controls.

Younger adults experienced the largest relative impact. Individuals aged 40 to 64 had more than double the mortality risk of their matched peers. Multiple chronic conditions, such as cancer, heart failure, and renal disease, further increased mortality risk. 

Vaccination appeared to confer meaningful protection in middle-aged adults: receiving two or more COVID vaccine doses was associated with a 48% reduction in mortality risk in the those aged 40 to 64. The association was weaker and not statistically significant in adults 65 and older. 

The findings underscore the need for preventive strategies and targeted follow-up of previously hospitalized patients, note the authors, with particular attention paid to cardiovascular, renal, and oncologic complications that may emerge or worsen after severe infection.

Quick takes: Suspected avian flu in US and Canada; polio in 3 countries; national defense act

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Topics
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Polio
  • Highly pathogenic avian influenza is suspected in the recent deaths of wild birds in Manitoba, Hawaii, and Kansas. Today, Canadian officials said that the virus is likely behind the unprecedented die-off of roughly 500 birds—most of them Canada geese—in and near the Red River in southern Manitoba, according to CBC. Most were found dead in ponds in Niverville, about 19 miles southeast of Winnipeg. Some of the birds in Niverville have tested positive for the virus. In Hawaii, the Department of Land and Natural Resources yesterday reported the discovery of a suspected avian flu case in an endangered wild duck on Kauai, the first on that island but the third for the state in a wild bird. The city of Salina, Kansas, yesterday announced three suspected cases of avian flu in geese amid a growing number of infections in the state and region.
  • In its weekly update, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reported four new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases in Angola, Nigeria, and Yemen. The Angola cases were from Bie and Cuando Cubango, with paralysis onsets of October 3 and 27, respectively, for a 2025 tally of 19 cases. Nigeria noted one case from Zamfara, with onset of paralysis on October 25, for a yearly total of 53. The Yemeni case, from Taiz, which had a paralysis onset of October 5, brings the year’s case total to 30.
  • Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which limits research collaborations with China and other countries deemed to pose a biosecurity risk, per media reports But the bill no longer specifies individual Chinese businesses or contain other proposed research security language opposed by US researchers and blocks a Department of Defense plan to lower overhead payments to grantees. The act now heads to the Senate for a vote, which will likely take place next week.

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