Long COVID can still kill, new Colorado data shows

Long COVID is a "significant contributing factor" in the death of 38 Colorado residents in 2023 and another 14 so far in 2024, new state figures show.

Why it matters: Years removed from the height of the pandemic, chronic conditions derived from COVID-19 continue to contribute to the state's death rate, CPR reports .

What they're saying: "It doesn't surprise me. It's definitely something that we should pay attention to because long COVID exists," Dana Dabelea, an epidemiology professor at Colorado's School of Public Health, told the radio station.

The big picture: The state's mortality rate is still higher than pre-pandemic years at 682 per 100,000 people, compared to a rate of 636 in 2019.

• In 2021, COVID ranked as the third leading cause of death and the age-adjusted death rate reached a peak of 772.6 before vaccines became more widely available.

Yes, but: COVID is no longer one of the state's top 10 killers, CPR found. It ranked 12th when "underlying cases" of long COVID were added to the total.

The bottom line: Life expectancy in Colorado rose to 79.9 in 2023, up from 2020 but not back to pre-pandemic levels of 80.9.

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