Marijuana use and breakthrough cases of COVID-19: new study

CONNECTICUT – Residents suffering from an uncontrolled addiction to marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, opioids and tobacco have something else to worry about. New study says they may be more likely to suffer from a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

A revolutionary case is a case acquired by a person more than two weeks after completing their series of vaccines.

The results of the study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, were published Tuesday in the journal World Psychiatry.

While breakthrough infections were seen in 3.6% of people vaccinated without a substance use disorder, the study found that 7% of people with SUD had breakthrough infections.

The study did not delve into the causal relationship between substance dependence and breakthrough cases (if any), only the correlation. In fact, when researchers quantified and ruled out factors such as economic hardship and underlying health conditions, any increased risk of contracting COVID-19 was gone.

That said, the study found that marijuana users were at the greatest risk of breakthrough cases among the SUD community, at 7.8%.

So is it something in the grass itself? Or in the bogarting habits of the marijuana-dependent community?

A spokesperson for NIDA told Newsweek that “[I]Individual behavioral patterns and social conditions can be a major contributing factor beyond simply presenting problematic substance use patterns, such as lack of access to reliable information, sharing of joints, etc. .

The Connecticut Department of Public Health reports that as of Thursday, it has identified 14,419 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Of the 2,361,627 people who had both injections, 0.61% of those fully vaccinated in Connecticut contracted the virus, up 0.03% from last week’s report. Of the 1,662 cases of COVID-19 recorded by the DPH in the last seven days, 510, or 30.7%, involved people already fully vaccinated, up just over 3% from the week former.

One hundred and twenty-seven deaths associated with the coronavirus have occurred among the 14,419 fully vaccinated people confirmed by COVID-19. These deaths represent 11% of all deaths from COVID-19 since February 9, 2021, up 1% from last week’s report.

Nationally, as of October 4, 6,617 fully vaccinated people have died from the virus, up from 5,226 the week before. Eighty-six percent of them are 65 or older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Statewide, the rate of COVID-19-related deaths slowed during the baseline period last week. Thirty-eight residents have died in the past seven days, down from the previous week’s report of 53 deaths. That brings the number of coronavirus deaths in the state to 8,667.

The graphs above and below show the “relative risk,” or the difference in risk when comparing rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

The latest data shows that unvaccinated residents have a 5 times higher risk of dying from the coronavirus, compared to those who are vaccinated. Their risk of hospitalization is 42 times higher.

Although coronavirus deaths in Connecticut have declined significantly since February, it’s important to note that death rates – and hospitalization – have historically been higher among unvaccinated people than among fully vaccinated people.

According to the latest weekly release of statewide DPH data, 2,361,627 residents out of 3,105,947 eligible people have been fully immunized, representing a statewide vaccination rate of 76%. Connecticut continues to claim one of the highest vaccination rates in the country.

Residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 include over 95% of those over 65, 90% of those aged 55 to 64, 82% of those aged 45 to 54, 82% of the elderly 35 to 44 years old, 74% among 25-34 year olds, 69% of 18-24 year olds, 79% of 16-17 year olds and 69% of 12-15 year olds.

Residents of the eastern region of the state, with the highest rates of coronavirus infection, are also the least likely to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data released by DPH. Of all the municipalities in Connecticut, only Canaan has a fully immunized population (1,053).

Of the 1,634 COVID-19 cases recorded by the state’s Department of Public Health in the past seven days, 515, or 31.5%, were in residents who had already been fully immunized.

Hospitalizations have increased slightly, by four beds, in the latest data. As of the end of last week, 234 residents were being treated for the virus in Connecticut hospitals.

Most of those hospitalized (95) are in Hartford County.

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