The neuropsychiatric complications of severe COVID-19 contamination appear to be no different than for other severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). Results of a massive study confirmed dangers of recent neuropsychiatric illness have been drastically and further elevated in adults surviving either severe COVID-19 infection or other SARI, in comparison with the general population. This indicates that sickness severity, in place of the pathogen, is the maximum relevant factor in new-onset neuropsychiatric illness complications, the investigators note.

The hazard of recent-onset neuropsychological illness after severe COVID-19 contamination are “substantial, however much like the ones after different severe respiratory infections,” study investigator Peter Watkinson, MD, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, and John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England, told Medscape Medical News. “Both for the ones providing and commissioning services, neuropsychological sequelae need to be considered after all severe respiratory infections, rather than only following severe COVID-19 disease,” Watkinson said. The study became published online May 11 in JAMA Psychiatry. Research has proven a huge burden of neuropsychological contamination after excessive COVID-19 contamination. However, it is uncertain how this hazard compares to SARI. To investigate, Watkinson and co-workers evaluated electronic health record (EHR) records on greater than 8.3 million adults, inclusive of 16,679 (0.02%) who survived a hospital admission for SARI and 32,525 (0.03%) who survived a hospital stay for COVID-19.

Compared with the remaining population, dangers of recent anxiety disorder, dementia, psychotic disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder diagnoses have been drastically and further elevated in adults surviving hospitalization for both COVID-19 or SARI. Compared with the broader population, survivors of severe SARI or COVID-19 have been additionally at elevated risk of starting treatment with antidepressants, hypnotics/anxiolytics, or antipsychotics.

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