A study published on the preprint server Research Square found that COVID-19-related hospitalization is associated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. CIDRAP has the news.

The study also suggested that being vaccinated for COVID-19 is associated with a lower likelihood of stroke. The authors wrote that “COVID-19 requiring hospitalization confers an acute, time-limited increase in stroke risk.” The data has not yet been per-reviewed.

The scientists involved with this study followed up with 1.2 million people aged 50 and older who hadn’t had a stroke over the past two years. They matched 11,974 people who experienced a stroke to 119,740 people in a control group without stroke. 9.3% of those who had a stroke recently had a COVID-19 infection.

They found that having a COVID-19 infection that required hospitalization was associated with a 23% increase in total stroke and a 22% and 18% higher risk in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively. The risk remained greatest in the three months following infection. Those who were vaccinated has a 21% lower likelihood of experiencing a new stroke.