Immunosuppressed transplant recipients between the ages of 12 to 17-years-old have been added to the MELODY study population, which analyses how well additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine protects immunosuppressed people.

The research project was first launched in December 2021 to evaluate third doses in adult patients and was supported by a coalition of funders including Kidney Research UK, The Medical Research Council, Blood Cancer UK, Vasculitis UK and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The team at Imperial College London will now expand the MELODY study to include immunosuppressed young people who have had an organ transplant, to assess the levels of protection the vaccines offer to immunosuppressed people across age groups.

Dr Michelle Willicombe, the study lead at Imperial College London, commented: “Information on how young, immunosuppressed people have responded to vaccination and the protection it affords them from infection is currently lacking, so we are delighted for the additional support so we can include children in MELODY to provide ongoing evidence.”

New research has revealed that only one in four UK patients hospitalised with COVID-19 say they are fully recovered 12 months later.

Women, those who are obese and individuals on mechanical ventilation in hospital all have an increased likelihood of suffering from long COVID.

The most common ongoing long-COVID-19 symptoms are fatigue, muscle pain, physically slowing down, poor sleep and breathlessness. Researchers state that long COVID-19 is becoming a highly prevalent new long-term condition.

A study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine revealed that more than 2,000 patients were studied post-hospitalisation, to determine the impact of long COVID. Patients from 39 NHS hospitals agreed to five-month and one year follow-up assessments, alongside their clinical care.

Following the analysis, women were 32% less likely to be fully recovered after a year, those who were obese were half as likely and those that were on mechanical ventilation were 5% less likely to be fully recovered after one year. 

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Aberdeen has found that people with diabetes are almost twice as likely to die with COVID-19, and almost three times as likely to be critically or severely ill, compared to those without the condition.

The study reviewed data from thousands of people all over the world and found that good management of the condition can mitigate against the risks. In collaboration with King’s College, London, the results found that while diabetes presents a significant risk of severe illness and death with COVID-19, good control of blood sugar in patients can reduce such threats.

Researchers reviewed findings from 158 studies, which included more than 270,000 participants from all over the world to determine how COVID-19 affects people living with diabetes.

The results revealed that people with diabetes were 1.87 times more likely to die with COVID-19, 1.59 times more likely to be admitted to ICU, 1.44 times more likely to require ventilation and 2.88 times more likely to be classed as severe or critical, when compared to patients without diabetes.

Stavroula Kastora who worked on the study alongside Professor Mirela Delibegovic and Professor Phyo Myint, commented: “We found that following a COVID-19 infection, the risk of death for patients with diabetes was significantly increased in comparison to patients without diabetes.

“Equally, collective data from studies around the globe suggested that patients with diabetes had a significantly higher risk of requiring an intensive care admission and supplementary oxygen, or being admitted in a critical condition, in comparison to patients without diabetes,” she added.