South Korean study of Covid and immunocompromised

scotleag

There's a new study of Covid effects on immunocompromised vis-a-vis general population conducted in South Korea https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0257641

It's long and in parts highly technical so here's a summary if you don't want to read the entire article There were almost 6,500 adult (18+) Covid patients in the study, 871 (13.5%) of whom were immunocompromised. Average age of general population in the study was 47, in immunocompromised it was 60. The conclusions are not heartening.

"Immunocompromised status among COVID-19 patients was associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality."

On Twitter, Professor Francois Balloux, Director of University College London's Genetics Institute has summed up the study as follows,

"Immunocompromised people are at increased risk of severe Covid. For example the study below found a ~2x mortality increase. This is substantial increase in mortality risk but covid is not an automatic death sentence for the immunocompromised.

To provide some context, the excess mortality risk of covid for an immunocompromised person, is roughly in line with being 5-10 years older, having a mental illness or being obese."

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but this is not good news. 'Not an AUTOMATIC death sentence' or a mortality risk 'of being 5-10 years olde aren't lines I was hoping to read just as England heads to an end to all restrictions.

Arthuritis

@scotleag Unfortunately we are led by populist soundbite leaders reminiscent of Orwell’s Animal Farm, not scientists like Chris Whitty , whom the gutter press mocks, despite having no political or commercial agenda, unlike the party donors losing rent & sales and so urging the PM to lift restrictions & even asking the covid stats not be published.

If that greedy lot had to pay for the care of each person infected as a result they’d sing a different tune, but they don’t. They pocket, tax payers pay.

They want beer sales up, young people drunk and getting carted off to A&E to get their stomachs pumped while those in genuine need wait & suffer, while taxes pay for this waste of NHS resource just to increase sales for a few political donors. “Follow the Money” has never been truer than today, where bad things happen, and the weak suffer because of greed & stupidity .

Politicians can’t afford to think or do the right thing, & they need the morally dodgy cash to stay in power.