(Iowa City, IA) -- University of Iowa Health Care researchers say Parkinson's patients may have a tougher time with COVID-19. They reviewed 80-thousand cases and found a 30-percent higher COVID-19 death rate. Researchers say COVID can cause pneumonia, a leading cause of Parkinson's deaths. The research team says the findings show the importance of patients getting a flu and pneumonia vaccine.
“We recognize the limitations of this study, it is retrospective data from a single database, but we are confident that these data show that Parkinson's disease is independent risk factor for death in COVID-19,” says Dr. Nandakumar Narayanan, UI associate professor of neurology and a member of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. “We believe this observation will be of interest to clinicians treating patients with Parkinson’s disease, and public health officials.”
“We are all focused on COVID right now, but this is a clear example of a respiratory illness that leads to increased mortality [in PD patients]. These findings may also have implications for understanding risks for PD patients from other diseases, including influenza,” Narayanan says. “I would recommend a flu vaccine and pneumonia vaccine to try to prevent these problems in patients with PD.”