A new study has revealed that those who have had Covid before are more at risk to develop a host of killer illnesses, compared to those who have never had the virus.
The Scottish Sun reports that millions of Brits have already had the virus, and the majority also have been protected against it thanks to the vaccine. However, experts have found that all those who have contracted Covid - with mild symptoms or not - have increased risks of heart issues, and even death.
According to the research, published in Heart, those who are admitted to hospital with Covid are 27 times as likely to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE), compared to those who have never had Covid.
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Those who didn't require hospital treatment are still three times as likely to develop VTE than non-Covid sufferers. VTE is a condition that happens when a blood clot forms inside a vein.
If the blood clot is left untreated, if it is large, it can cause death. People who are hospitalised with Covid are also 21 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure.
They are also 17 times more likely to have a stroke, according to researches from the Queen Mary University of London.
Other conditions include atrial fibrillations - an irregular heart - and pericarditis - inflammation of the heart. Death was also more common among those who had Covid.
The greatest risk of heart conditions and death is within the first 30 days of infection, but remains high for some time afterwards, the findings suggest.
The data used in the research included over 50,000 people from the UK Biobank, 17,871 of which were diagnosed with coronavirus. People were tracked until a cardiovascular problem happened or they died.
When commenting on the study, researchers said: "The long-term sequelae of past Covid exposure is emerging as a dominant public health concern.
"Our findings highlight the increased cardiovascular risk of individuals with past infection, which are likely to be greater in countries with limited access to vaccination and thus greater population exposure to Covid."
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