Most people with hypertension will be safe to stay on their renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers if they develop COVID-19, according to a meta-analysis.

Italian researchers pooled data from 10 observational studies to see whether people on the antihypertensives were more at risk of severe or fatal COVID-19 than patients with hypertension who were not taking the drugs.

The meta-analysis included data from nearly 10,000 patients with hypertension and SARS-CoV-2 in six case-control or cohort studies from Europe, two from the USA and two from China, with all studies adjusting for age, gender and comorbidities.

Numerically, there was a 10% lower risk of severe outcomes (ICU admission, mechanical ventilation or death) from COVID-19 infection for patients on RAS blockers compared with others not on the drugs, but the difference was not statistically significant, the authors reported in Heart.