ANYONE who’s had Covid is at risk of develop several fatal heart conditions, research suggests.
Millions have already had the bug and the majority of Brits also have protection due to the huge vaccine rollout.
Catching Covid increases risk of deadly heart issues
Scientists from China have discovered all those who contract the virus have an increased risk of deadly heart issues including heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction.
Previous studies have found the bug increases risk of developing develop venous thromboembolism (VTE).
People who pick up the bug are four time more likely to develop heart disease within the first three weeks of infection.
And for up to 18 months after catching Covid, infected people’s risk of developing the silent killer remains 40 per cent higher than those who never had the bug.
Commenting on the study results, lead researcher, Prof Ian C.K. Wong of Hong, said: “Patients with Covid-19 should be monitored for at least a year after recovering from the accuate illness to diagnose cardiovascular complications of the infection, which form part of long Covid.”
More than two million people in the UK say they have symptoms of long Covid, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey.
And some sufferers are reporting heart problems, such as changes in heart rate and palpitations.
According to the study published in Cardiovascular Research, those with Covid are also 81 times more likely to die within the first month of catching the disease than someone who doesn’t have the disease.
Infected people’s risk of death remains high – five times higher than a non-infected people – for 18 months.
Prof Ian added: “Covid patients were more likely to develop numerous cardiovascular conditions compared to uninfected participants, which may have contributed to their higher risks of death.”
Researchers looked at data on 7,500 people who had caught Covid between March 2020 to November 2020 in the UK – before the nation was vaccinated and while lockdowns made care harder to access.
They compared the health outcomes of the infected patients against 75,000 people who never tested positive for the bug. “Previous research has indicated that Covid-19 vaccination may prevent complications.”
Prof Ian called for further studies to “investigate [the vaccine’s] effectiveness in reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease and death after Covid-19 infection.”
This comes as a new variant has began to spread across the UK, accounting for nearly a quarter of cases of the virus in England, data from the Sanger Institute states.
It is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant known as Orthrus or CH.1.1. and was first detected in November last year, according to surveillance data.
Meanwhile, another new off-shoot of Omicron, named Kraken, is now responsible for just 3.6 per cent of infections across England, the Sanger data shows.
However, neither Orthrus or Kraken have been dubbed as variants of concern by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
While these variants are not yet dominant, experts have said that those in the US coming down with the Kraken strain have experienced cold and flu like symptoms.
Speaking at a press conference Dr Allison Arwady, the Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, said: “We’re seeing more people actually just have cold-like symptoms.
“But are less likely to have those flu-like, really feeling very sick [symptoms such as] the high fevers.”
Typical cold symptoms include a runny nose, sore throat, cough and congestion, according to the NHS.
The Sun has been urging Brits to protect against both Covid and flu, as part of its “Do the Double” campaign.
The Omicron strain has already been found to be milder than others that came before it.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said XBB.1.5 is “the most transmissible sub-variant which has been detected yet”.
The new version of the bug has gained additional mutations which make it better at evading immunity and therefore “more infectious”, Prof Francois Balloux of the UCL Genetics Institute has said.
He added: “It is widely anticipated to go up in frequency globally, and may cause a sizeable fraction of cases globally in the near future.
As such, it could push up case numbers over the coming weeks in the UK.”
However, Prof Jonathan Ball a virologist at the University of Nottingham said there was “no evidence it’s more dangerous” than current strains.