Patients With SUDs Have Higher Risk of Breakthrough COVID-19 Infection

People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have a substance use disorder (SUD) appear to be at higher risk for breakthrough infections than people without an SUD, according to areport inWorld Psychiatry.The risk of breakthrough infection for people with SUDs ranged from 6.8% for tobacco use disorder to 7.8% for cannabis use disorder. The risk of breakthrough infections in vaccinated people without an SUD was 3.6%.“[T]he overall risk of COVID-19 among vaccinated people with substance use disorders is very low,” NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., one of the study authors, said in anews release. “We must continue to encourage and facilitate COVID-19 vaccination among people with substance use disorders, while also acknowledging that even after vaccination, this group is at an increased risk and should continue to take protective measures against COVID-19.”The researchers analyzed de-identified data from electronic health records for 30,183 fully vaccinated patients with history of SUD and 549,189 patients without SUD between December 2020 and August 2021 —a period that included the Delta variant outbreak. Among the fully vaccinated population with an SUD, 7,802 patients had a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, 2,058 of cannabis use disorder, 1,011 of cocaine use disorder, 2,379 of opioid use disorder, and 21,941 of tobacco use disorder.The risk of breakthrough infection for all five SUDs was significantly higher than for vaccinated individuals without an SUD...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: breakthrough infections comorbid disorders COVID-19 death hospitalization NIDA Nora Volkow substance use disorders World Psychiatry Source Type: research