COVID-19 Vaccines Cut Mortality With Heart Failure

THURSDAY, June 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a significant reduction in mortality among patients with heart failure, according to a study published online June 9 in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

Noting that reports of vaccine-related cardiac complications may contribute to vaccine hesitancy in patients with heart failure, Kipp W. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues assessed the impact of COVID-19 vaccine status on clinical outcomes in this patient population. The analysis included electronic health record data from 7,094 patients with heart failure (48 percent female; mean age, 73.3 years).

The researchers found that as of January 2022, 9.1 percent were partially vaccinated, 31 percent were fully vaccinated, 14.8 percent were vaccine-boosted, and 45.1 percent remained unvaccinated. During a mean follow-up time of 276.5 days, patients who were vaccine-boosted followed by those who were fully vaccinated experienced lower mortality (hazard ratios, 0.33 and 0.36, respectively) versus unvaccinated individuals. There was no difference observed between those who were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

“The findings further emphasize that heart failure patients need to take vaccines seriously, since they have worse outcomes if infected with COVID-19,” a coauthor said in a statement. “The hope is that cardiologists will use these results as a tool to help their patients and improve their chances of survival.”

One author disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.

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