One in eight ‘recovered’ Covid patients die within 140 days, study finds with a THIRD readmitted within weeks
Alahna Kindred
18 Jan 2021, 9:57Updated: 18 Jan 2021, 10:17
ONE in eight recovered Covid patients die within 140 days - with a third readmitted within weeks, a study has found.
New figures found that of 47,780 people discharged from hospital in the first wave, 29.4 per cent returned in less than five months.
Of those readmitted, 12.3 per cent of them died, according to research from Leicester University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The long-term effects of Covid-19 can cause survivors to develop heart problems, diabetes and chronic liver and kidney conditions.
Experts behind the study say that their findings show that people who have been discharged should be monitored in the months afterwards.
Kamlesh Kamlesh, the study's author and a professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at Leicester University, said it was the "largest study of people discharged from hospital after being admitted with Covid".
Professor Khunti told The Daily Telegraph : "People seem to be going home, getting long-term effects, coming back in and dying.
"We see nearly 30 per cent have been readmitted, and that's a lot of people. The numbers are so large."
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
The study has yet to be peer-reviewed and the statistics are based on initial data.
Prof Khunti said he was surprised to see that patients were being readmitted to hospital with a different diagnosis and many had also developed further complications.
He added: "We don't know if it's because Covid destroyed the beta cells which make insulin and you get Type 1 diabetes, or whether it causes insulin resistance, and you develop Type 2, but we are seeing these surprising new diagnoses of diabetes."
The Government currently registers a death as Covid-related if the patient died up to 28 days after a positive test.
This latest research could mean that the true death toll may be higher if patients who survive coronavirus return to hospital with serious health problems months later.
..........
Related link: One in eight ‘recovered’ Covid patients die within 140 days, study finds with a THIRD readmitted within weeks
