A new study suggests that people with a history of certain mental illnesses may be at higher risk of sudden COVID-19 infections after vaccination.
Researcher Kristen Nishimi said this may be due to the fact that patients with certain mental disorders may have a “reduced immune response to the vaccine.”
And the findings show that people with psychiatric disorders should be one of the groups that receive priority for booster vaccines and other preventive efforts, researchers said.
The study, conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, looked at 263,697 fully vaccinated patients who received health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs between February 2020 and November 2021. They published their findings last Thursday in JAMA Network Open.
Of the cohort, 135,481 patients (51.4%) were diagnosed with at least one psychiatric condition such as substance abuse, psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder, and anxiety. In addition, 39,109 patients (14.8%) developed a puncture infection.
The researchers found that patients under the age of 65 were up to 11% more likely to develop a sudden infection with COVID-19 than those diagnosed with psychiatric illness. And for patients 65 years of age or older, a psychiatric history poses up to a 24 percent higher risk than COVID-19.
Given the higher incidence of outbreaks among older patients, Nishimi said the lower immunological response to the vaccine associated with some psychiatric disorders “may be more significant in the elderly.”
“(Elderly patients) may require more frequent personal care, which could increase their interaction with the health care system,” Nishimi said in a press release issued Thursday.
For both groups, risk factors were also adjusted for variables such as age, race, vaccine type, underlying conditions
“Our study shows that increased infections in people with mental disorders cannot be fully explained by socio-demographic factors or pre-existing conditions,” senior author Aoif O’Donovan said in a press release. “Mental health is important to consider in relation to other risk factors.”
Risk factors vary depending on the type of condition. For patients 65 years of age and older, the study found that the risk of sudden infection was 24% higher among people with a history of substance abuse, 23% higher for those with psychotic disorder, 16% higher for bipolar disorder. disorder, 14 percent for adjustment disorder and 12 percent for anxiety.
O’Donovan says a possible explanation may be due to weakened immunity, aggravated by these mental states.
“Immunity after vaccination may weaken faster or stronger for people with mental disorders, and / or they may have less protection than newer options,” she said.
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