Dengue recovery linked to higher long-term health risks than COVID-19

People who caught dengue and recovered usually tend to face long-term well being problems a couple of yr later in comparison with those that contracted COVID-19, in response to the findings of a nationwide examine led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).

Specifically, those that caught dengue have a 55% larger danger of coronary heart problems, resembling irregular heartbeats, coronary heart illness, and blood clots, in contrast with those that fell sick with COVID-19 and recovered.

Based on assessments and medical declare information of 11,707 residents in Singapore with dengue and 1,248,326 who had COVID-19 (delta and omicron variant) between July 2021 and October 2022, the examine regarded for newly arising well being issues associated to the guts, neurological and immune system that appeared 31 to 300 days after the an infection. The analysis staff stated that the circulation of dengue and COVID-19 within the examine interval supplied a novel alternative for comparability.

The examine, printed within the Journal of Travel Medicine in July 2024, is the primary to look at the long-term danger of a number of well being problems following dengue and the primary to distinction the post-recovery danger of dengue and COVID-19 sufferers.

The examine was carried out by researchers from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Ministry of Health, Singapore, Singapore General Hospital, and National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore and the National Environment Agency.

Lead writer of the examine, Assistant Professor Lim Jue Tao, Infectious Disease Modelling at LKCMedicine, stated, “We have been motivated to conduct the examine because of the rising geographic vary of dengue because of local weather change. Dengue is among the commonest vector-borne illnesses globally, and long-term well being points ensuing from dengue can considerably improve the well being care burdens of the contaminated particular person and the nation.

“We additionally determined to check the outcomes towards those that recovered from COVID-19 as our earlier work had steered elevated danger of comparable long-term well being problems. Overall, our examine underscores the necessity for individuals to protect towards dengue of their atmosphere and could be a useful resource to assist public well being planning.”

The researchers’ statistical evaluation of their knowledge revealed that individuals who had dengue have been at larger danger of creating long-term well being problems in comparison with those that had COVID-19—with 55% elevated long-term danger of any coronary heart problems, 213% elevated danger of cognition or reminiscence problems, and 198% elevated danger of motion problems in dengue sufferers in comparison with COVID-19 sufferers.

The danger of problems in dengue sufferers was in comparison with those that had COVID-19, as earlier work already steered elevated danger of the identical circumstances in people who recovered from COVID-19. The comparability of the well being points confronted by each teams of sufferers post-recovery subsequently presents distinctive insights to the necessity for post-acute administration of sufferers and well being care planning.

Risk is the proportion improve within the likelihood of creating a specified coronary heart or neurological complication within the 300 days following dengue analysis versus COVID-19 analysis.

The examine discovered that people who caught dengue had a 55% larger danger of latest long-term coronary heart problems, resembling dysrhythmia, ischemic coronary heart illness and thrombotic problems (101 of 11,166 sufferers, or 0.9%), in comparison with sufferers who recovered from COVID-19 (6494 of 1,206,208 sufferers, or 0.5%).

Dengue sufferers additionally had a 213% larger danger of cognition and reminiscence problems than those that had COVID-19 (39 of 11,632, or 0.3% within the dengue group in comparison with 1749 in 1,239,104, or 0.1% in COVID-19 group).

Additionally, dengue sufferers had a 198% larger danger of latest extrapyramidal (motion) problems, when in comparison with COVID-19 sufferers who recovered (25 of 11,610, or 0.2% within the dengue group in comparison with 1270 in 1,238,195, or 0.1%, in COVID-19 group).

Commenting as an unbiased knowledgeable, Professor Kwok Kin-on, infectious illnesses epidemiologist at The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong, stated, “This examine is essential because it supplies the primary complete comparability of post-recovery well being points between dengue and COVID-19 sufferers, providing worthwhile insights for well being care planning and affected person administration. Additionally, the findings underscore the necessity for elevated vigilance and focused interventions for these recovering from dengue to mitigate long-term well being impacts.”

The researchers famous that there are limitations to the examine. They embrace monitoring solely adults aged 18 years and older, which implies the findings from the examine can’t be generalized to the pediatric populations. Individual susceptibility to COVID-19 and dengue, resembling genetic, behavioral, or environmental components, which may affect danger estimates, have been additionally not thought-about.

In future analysis, the staff of researchers will evaluate the chance of long-term well being problems throughout totally different dengue serotypes (variants), and the financial prices incurred from these problems.