(Solarina Ho/ CTV News) — The risk of developing a blood clot remained elevated almost a year after a COVID-19 infection, according to a new U.K. study that looked at the health records of 48 million unvaccinated adults, covering almost the entire adult English and Welsh populations, from the first year of the pandemic.
In a peer-reviewed paper published by the American Heart Association’s Circulation journal, researchers estimated that in 2020, COVID-19 resulted in more than 10,500 additional heart attacks, strokes, and other blood clot-related events in England and Wales.
While excess risks were overall small and fell over time, researchers still found that the chances of developing a venous thromboembolism (VTE) following a COVID-19 diagnosis remained almost twice as high for up to 49 weeks following a positive test, compared to people who were not diagnosed with the viral infection. (…)