SEATTLE A boom in alcohol sales during the pandemic appears to have had dire consequences for some as hospital admissions for alcohol-related hepatitis, a life-threatening liver inflammation, increased dramatically, according to a study of national hospitalization data.
Researchers found increasing cases of alcohol-related liver illness from 2016 through 2020, but the rise was particularly pronounced the year COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. in 2020, which saw a 12.4% increase over 2019 levels. It was worse in younger patients, ages 18 to 44, a group that had a nearly 20% jump in hospital admissions for alcohol-related hepatitis. The consequences were also more severe as in-hospital deaths increased by 24.6% in 2020 compared to 2019.
While the problem has been noted anecdotally and in regional studies, these findings show the growing problem on a national scale, said Dr. Kris Kowdley, professor at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and senior author
The first year of the covid-19 pandemic helped fuel a spike of boozy liver injuries in the U.S., recent research suggests. The study found a jump in reported hospitalizations from alcohol-related hepatitis across the U.S. in 2020—even above the steady increases seen in past years. Deaths from these injuries substantially increased in 2020 as well.
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A boom in alcohol sales during the pandemic appears to have had dire consequences for some as hospital admissions for alcohol-related hepatitis, a life-threatening liver inflammation, increased dramatically, according to a study of national hospitalization data.