london mortality from covid19 in people with intellectual disabilities are five times higher than the general population according to a studyintellectual disability is a term used when there are limits to a persons ability to learn at an expected level and function in daily lifealthough high rates of covidrelated deaths have been reported for people with intellectual disabilities during the first two years of the pandemic it is unknown to what extent the pandemic has impacted existing mortality disparities for such peoplefor the study the team compared the first two years of the covid19 pandemic 2020 and 2021 with the prepandemic period 201519 at the start of followup in 2015 187149 dutch adults with indicators of intellectual disability were enrolled and 126 million adults from the general population were includedthe findings published in the journal the lancet public health showed that compared to the general population mortality from covid19 was five times higher in the population with intellectual disabilities particularly among those below 30 years of age 22 times higher and among below 60 years of age nine times higherthe overall mortality from all causes disparity during the covid19 pandemic was 5 per cent higher than before the pandemicthis increased overall mortality disparity was not completely explained by the excess risk for people with intellectual disabilities to die from covid19 but increasing mortality disparities were also seen for causes related to cancer mental behavioural and nervous system disorders and external causesthus although people with intellectual disabilities were already facing a preexisting mortality disparity the magnitude of this risk difference relative to the general population increased during the pandemicour study showed that the full impact of the covid19 pandemic has been much greater than indicated by reported deaths due to covid19 alone existing mortality disparities between people with and without intellectual disabilities have been further widened compared with the period 201519 said the team including dr maarten cuypers from radboud university medical center in the netherlandsthe health risks for people with intellectual disabilities warrant targeted policy making regarding protective measures for the current pandemic and future pandemic preparedness that go beyond the causative agent of a pandemic alonethis study shows the need for better monitoring of vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities who are at risk of otherwise being overlooked with marked consequences the researchers wrotethe study was also presented at the ongoing european congress of clinical microbiology infectious diseases in copenhagen