"COVID-19 Vaccination Reduces Risk of Major Diseases Including Heart and Kidney Conditions"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A study has found that receiving two or more COVID-19 vaccination doses reduces the risk of major related diseases such as heart, thrombosis, and kidney conditions. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health announced the interim analysis results of chronic COVID-19 syndrome (post-COVID-19 sequelae) using big data on the 3rd.

The research team (co-principal investigator Professor Jaehoon Jeong of Gachon University College of Medicine) tracked about 12 million people confirmed positive during the domestic Omicron surge from January to April last year for four months after diagnosis. They compared the risk of developing 27 major diseases related to the cardiovascular system, thrombosis, nervous system, respiratory system, digestive system, and endocrine system according to COVID-19 vaccination status.

The study showed that individuals vaccinated two or more times had a significantly reduced risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (ischemic heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, cardiac arrest), thrombosis-related diseases (pulmonary embolism, venous thrombosis), kidney diseases (acute renal failure, hemodialysis), respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease), liver cirrhosis, and diabetes compared to unvaccinated individuals after COVID-19 infection. The incidence of cardiac arrest was 54% lower, and interstitial lung disease occurrence was 62% lower in the group vaccinated two or more times.

Receiving three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine showed even greater effects. Compared to those vaccinated twice, the risk of heart diseases (heart failure 15%, arrhythmia 16%, cardiac arrest 27%) and kidney diseases (hemodialysis 27%) further decreased.

Meanwhile, symptoms such as unexplained fatigue and breathing difficulties persisting 12 weeks after COVID-19 diagnosis are referred to as chronic COVID-19 syndrome (standard disease code U09.9). From October 2020 to October last year, about 94,000 cases were diagnosed, accounting for approximately 0.4% of confirmed cases. Similar to previous studies, diagnoses coded with U09 were more frequent in women than men and increased with age.

The KDCA plans to continue research using this big data to study the impact of treatments taken during the acute phase of COVID-19 on the development of chronic COVID-19 syndrome and on disease groups that may be affected in the mid- to long-term after COVID-19, and to announce the results. Additionally, the chronic COVID-19 syndrome investigation project will establish cohorts for both children and adults to conduct long-term observational clinical studies.