COVID-19: Goes hand in hand with existing hypertension immune insufficiency?
The majority of infections with the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 runs mild or even without symptoms. However, some of the Infected become seriously ill. According to experts, there are certain risk groups who may be at risk for a serious COVID-19-the course is increased. The risk should also be used for people with high blood pressure higher. Additionally, it should be in hypertension, the risk of infection is greater. Is that true?
According to a notification, the question is put to the German high pressure League, increasingly, the extent to which a existing hypertension, immune insufficiency is associated, i.e., the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, or a serious course of a COVID-19-increases disease. The experts therefore provide this information to the current knowledge.
Groups of people at increased risk for severe course of the disease
The disease COVID-19, which is triggered by infection with the novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, runs according to experts, in the majority of cases (80 percent) are mild to moderate.
However, among older persons aged 50-60 years, as well as people suffering from pre-existing medical conditions like lung diseases or other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, have increased risk for a severe COVID-19-history.
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But this is also true for high blood pressure patients? And the risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2 is in the case of hypertension actually increased?
The high-pressure League explains that the “European Society of Hypertension” (ESH) writes in an opinion that there is currently no evidence that hypertension per se increase the risk of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2.
According to the researchers, who have compiled a comprehensive Review of COVID-risk factors of the cardiovascular system, to show the currently available data, the share of hypertension-Affected sub-COVID-19-patients and in -patients of 15-40 per cent (depending on the study).
This Rate corresponds approximately to the proportion of people in the General population, suffering from high blood pressure (about 30 percent). This suggests that hypertension per se increases the risk of infection.
High blood pressure is closely associated with age
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The same applies to the question of whether hypertension aggraviere the risk for a severe course of the disease from COVID-19. At first glance, it is said in the Review, the researchers see it, since for many patients with severe cases of novel infectious disease history of hypertension was collected.
Therefore, hypertension was listed at an early stage after the onset of the Corona pandemic as a risk factor in addition to other diseases such as Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, COPD and cancer.
Problem with this classification is, however, that high blood pressure is closely associated with age, with older people more frequently occurs. So about every third person is affected in Germany in the over 50-Year-old, the 60-Year-old every Second.
It is also known that especially older COVID-19-patients and in -patients, take a serious course with Intense liability, artificial Respiration or death.
In this respect, it is according to the high-pressure League is not surprising that the Rate of hypertension disorders in these usually elderly patients, and patients with severe COVID-19-gradients is also high.
The experts suggest that it’s not clear whether there are gradients, a direct Association between high blood pressure and serious disease, or whether the age of manufactures as a “Confounder” of this connection largely is at the present time, finally.
Blood pressure control as an essential precautionary measure
However, the current data show very impressively that the high-pressure patients, the ACEI (ACE inhibitor) or ARB (Angiotensin Receptor Blocker) use, there is no higher “COVID-risk” exhibit.
To do this, at the beginning of may were published in the journal “The New England Journal of Medicine” (NEJM), three major observation studies, concluding that a medication-adjusted hypertension in patients without high blood pressure-related end-organ damage increased, thus, per se, neither the risk of developing COVID-19, the risk of suffering a severe course of the disease,.
On the contrary, The authors of the above Reviews highlight in the publication the blood-pressure-setting as an essential precautionary measure in the framework of the Corona pandemic.
Patients with arterial hypertension should take their high-pressure medications and good blood pressure control, the eighth, the ESH’s recommendation, followed by the German high pressure League is.
People with hypertension no longer need to be protected than others
The high-pressure League, show that there is currently no evidence that the high-pressure patients and patients without severe end-organ damage/ blood disorders high-pressure-related result, more have to be protected (for example, by a prohibition of employment) than the same age General population, if the blood pressure is well adjusted.
The General recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), such as hygiene measures, distance requirement and recommendations apply. (ad)