Semaglutide Use Linked to Lower COVID-19 and Influenza Severity with Better Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, Renal Outcomes After Pandemic or Seasonal Infection

Respiratory viral infections continue to impose a large burden of hospitalization, organ failure and death, particularly among older adults and people with cardiometabolic disease. Whether prior semaglutide exposure is associated with lower post-infection severity across distinct respiratory viruses remains uncertain. We analyzed de-identified longitudinal electronic health record data from a federated U.S. network spanning more than 29 million patients. Adults with documented COVID-19 or influenza infection were classified by pre-infection semaglutide use versus no prior GLP-1 receptor agonist use and one-to-one propensity matched on demographics, BMI, HbA1c, vaccination status, prior infection status, antiviral use, healthcare utilization extent, several comorbidities, yielding matched cohorts of N=11,238 for COVID-19 and N=3,409 for influenza (flu). In the COVID-19 cohort, semaglutide exposure was associated with significantly lower (all P