The risk for severe postacute complications is low after SARS-CoV-2 infection not requiring hospitalization, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Investigators conducted a population-based cohort study to examine prescription drug and healthcare use after SARS-CoV-2 infection not requiring hospital admission. Data were included for 10,498 eligible individuals who tested positive for SARSCoV-2 in Denmark between February 27 and May 31, 2020, of whom 85.6% were alive and not admitted to the hospital 2 weeks after a positive test. A matched SARS-CoV-2 negative reference population included 80,894 individuals. Compared with SARS-CoV-2-negative individuals, SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals were not at increased risk for initiating new drugs, except bronchodilating agents, specifically shortacting ß2-agonists (1.7% vs 1.3%) and triptans (0.4% vs 0.3%). The risk for receiving hospital diagnoses of dyspnea (1.2% vs 0.7%) and venous thromboembolism (0.2% vs 0.1%) were increased for SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals versus negative individuals, while no increased risk was seen for other diagnoses. For SARS-CoV-2-positive versus negative individuals, prior event rate ratio-adjusted rate ratios were increased for overall general practitioner visits and outpatient hospital visits (1.18 and 1.10, respectively), but not hospital admissions.
