COVID-19 caused by Omicron BA.1 has resulted in a global humanitarian crisis. In this COVID-19 pandemic era, hypertension has been receiving increased attention. Omicron BA.1 infection combined with hypertension created a serious public health problem and complicated the treatment and prognosis of COVID-19. The aim of our study was to assess the implications of hypertension for the clinical manifestations of adult patients (APs) infected with Omicron BA.1. This single-center retrospective cohort study enrolled consecutive COVID-19 APs, who were admitted to Tianjin First Central Hospital from 01 August 2022 to 30 November 2022. All included APs were divided into two groups: hypertension and non-hypertension group. The APs' baseline demographic, laboratory, clinical, and radiological characteristics were collected and analyzed. Of 512 APs admitted with PCR proven COVID-19, 161 (31.45%) APs had comorbid hypertension. Hypertension APs have older age, higher body mass index, lower Ct-values of the viral target genes at admission, and longer hospital stay than non-hypertension APs. Furthermore, hypertension aggravates the clinical classification, impairs liver, kidney, and myocardium function, and abnormalizes the coagulation system in Omicron BA.1- infected APs. Moreover, hypertension elevates inflammation levels and lung lesion involvement while weakened virus-specific IgM level in APs with Omicron BA.1 infection. Hypertension APs tend to have worse clinical conditions at baseline than those non-hypertension APs. This study indicates that hypertension is a contributor to the poor clinical manifestations of Omicron BA.1-infected APs and supports that steps to control blood pressure should be a vital consideration for reducing the burden of Omicron BA.1 infection in hypertension individuals.
Importance: This study provided inclusive insight regarding the relationship between hypertension and Omicron BA.1 infection and supported that hypertension was an adverse factor for COVID-19 APs. In conclusion, this study showed that hypertension was considered to be associated with severe conditions, and a contributor to poor clinical manifestations. Proper medical management of hypertension patients is an imperative step in mitigating the severity of Omicron BA.1 variant infection.
Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron BA.1; SARS-CoV-2; clinical manifestations; hypertension.