Scientists are hard at work identifying the groups of people most at risk of contracting COVID-19 or dying from it – people who more urgently need the long-awaited protection vaccines can provide.
A new study of nearly 7,400 people in New York, who all tested positive for COVID-19, has found that the odds of people diagnosed with schizophrenia dying from COVID-19 are nearly three times higher than for those without the disorder.
It suggests there might be something about schizophrenia that makes these people more vulnerable to viral infections, though the startling findings may just be a reflection of healthcare inequalities exposed by the pandemic.
But it's worth noting here that schizophrenia is an enigmatic disease that scientists are still trying to understand, and this study only considered people with a documented history of the disorder.
People with mood disorders such as anxiety also featured, but the analysis found these people had no increased risk of dying from COVID-19, even though previous studies have found individuals with mental conditions are more likely to get infected.
The result means schizophrenia ranked as the second greatest risk factor (after age) for death by COVID-19 in this group of New Yorkers, after the study authors accounted for other variables, such as age, sex, race, diabetes, heart disease, and smoking (but not medication use or obesity).
One possible explanation, proposed by the study authors, is that because schizophrenia disturbs the body's immune system – it's sent into overdrive by inflammatory cytokines – it could make these people more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections.
Even without COVID-19, people with schizophrenia often have poor physical health, and it has long been known that this translates to a higher likelihood of dying early – as much as 20 years earlier than the average person, in some cases.
COVID-19 vaccination programs are rolling out around the world. Meanwhile, scientists are still hard at work identifying the groups of people most at risk of contracting the infection or dying from it – people who more urgently need the long-awaite
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