Risk of cytomegalovirus diseases among coronavirus disease survivors: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

This study was aimed at investigating the risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) survivors. In this retrospective cohort study, we used the TriNetX research network to identify adults with and without COVID‐19 between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Propensity score matching was used to match the patients with and without COVID‐19. The primary outcome was the risk of CMV disease during the 90‐day follow‐up period. Two matched cohorts comprising 2 501 634 patients with balanced baseline characteristics were created using propensity score matching. During the follow‐up period, patients with COVID‐19 had a higher risk of CMV disease than those without COVID‐19 (hazard ratio [HR], 2.55; 95% confidence interval: 2.01–3.23). The higher risk of CMV disease in the COVID‐19 cohort compared with that of the non‐COVID‐19 cohort remained unchanged in the subgroup analyses by sex (men: HR, 1.85 [1.38–2.47]; women: HR, 2.31 [1.63–3.27]), age (18–64 years: HR, 2.21 [1.71–2.85]; ≥65 years: HR, 1.97 [1.20–3.25]), obesity (HR, 1.54 [1.04–2.30]), diabetes mellitus (HR, 1.50 [1.08–2.08]), cancer (HR, 3.10 [1.95–4.92]), glucocorticoid use (HR, 3.14 [2.45–4.02]), transplantation (HR, 1.38 [1.08–1.77]), and unvaccinated status (HR, 2.37 [1.82–3.08]). In conclusion, COVID‐19 can increase the risk of CMV disease. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of CMV disease in patients with COVID‐19.

Severe Refractory Diarrhea Associated with COVID-19: A Case Report

“…Generally, patients with COVID-19 are often treated using systemic corticosteroids, which often results in immunosuppression. Therefore, patients with COVID-19 have been reported to be at risk of CMV infection [ 18 ]. Moreover, there have been several reported cases of enteritis due to CMV infection after COVID-19 [ 19 , 20 ].…”