Group most at risk of Covid despite vaccine

People with mental health disorders may be at higher risk of contracting covid-19 even if they have been vaccinated, according to US researchers.

One study found that having a mental health disorder, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and eating disorders, was linked to higher odds of contracting the “breakthrough” of Covid-19, where vaccination did not stop the infection.

The study involving more than 260,000 US veterans was conducted between February 2020 and November 2021.

Participants were defined as “fully vaccinated,” but 97.5 percent of them had not received a third booster dose at that time.

The authors said that in fully adjusted models, individual psychiatric disorders were associated with a 3 percent to 16 percent increase in the incidence of breakthrough infections among the sample.

That was comparable to the 7 percent to 23 percent increase seen in the incidence of physical comorbidities such as cancer, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

“There was variability in the magnitude of the increased incidence associated with specific psychiatric disorders, with larger effects seen for adjustment disorder and substance use disorders among all adults, in addition to adjustment, bipolar, and psychotic disorders among older adults,” they said.

“Psychiatric disorders remained significantly associated with incident emergent infections beyond sociodemographic and medical factors, suggesting that it is important to consider mental health along with other risk factors.”

“This cohort study suggests that diagnoses of psychiatric disorders were associated with a higher incidence of Sars-CoV-2 infection among Veterans Affairs patients, with the strongest associations seen in older people,” they wrote.

The authors concluded that people with psychiatric disorders should consider specific strategies to prevent breakthrough infections.

“People with psychiatric disorders may be at increased risk of COVID-19 even after vaccination, suggesting the need for targeted prevention efforts.”

That includes booster shots, screening tests and public health campaigns.