Scientists at the University of Michigan have revealed that in the first week and a half after being discharged from the hospital, patients who have undergone COVID-19 risk being hospitalized again or dying from complications. The most dangerous time after an apparent recovery from coronavirus is reported in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers analyzed data on 2,200 coronavirus hospitalized veterans, 1,800 hospitalized patients with pneumonia, and 3,500 with cardiovascular disease.
It turned out that in the first 10 days, patients with COVID-19 discharged from the hospital had a 40-60 percent higher risk of dying than people treated for heart failure or pneumonia not related to coronavirus. In the first two months, 9 percent died with coronavirus and 20 percent were hospitalized again. However, after 60 days, this risk was less than with the other two diseases.
According to scientists, COVID-19 is causing a cascade of health problems that are no less serious than those seen with other diseases. The age of the patients is a significant factor: about half of the veterans aged 70-80 died within 60 days of being discharged from the hospital. More than 22 percent of veterans re-admitted to the hospital ended up in intensive care.