Biggest Risk Factors for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Revealed

Medical experts have already warned people with the underlying conditions about coronavirus (COVID-19) risk but still many people are unable to understand who is at risk. The new research talks about certain medical conditions, which are probably the biggest risk factors for coronavirus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has evaluated the adult patients of coronavirus (COVID-19) risk. Nearly three-quarters of all adult population which ended up at hospital had at least one underlying disease which put them to the increased risk. This report has been published in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The study investigated 457 adult patients who were taken to ICU and found that 78% of them were suffering from underlying health conditions. On the other side, among 732 adult patients who were hospitalized but not taken to ICU, 71% of patients had at least one disease.

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The data reveal a strong correlation between underlying diseases and coronavirus severity. All the hospitalized cases of coronavirus were checked back for their risk factors. Nancy Chow, the leader of the COVID-19 Response Team of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed these conditions to be heart disease, diabetes, lung diseases, and asthma.

Unfortunately, all these are the most common medical conditions in middle to old age people worldwide. A report from 2018 suggests that more than 10% of US adults were suffering from diabetes and 10.6% population was a patient of heart diseases in 2017. Nearly 6% of the US population was a patient of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and 8% suffered from asthma in 2018.

Dr. Robert Glatter, a New York-based, emergency physician finds these findings to be predictable. He said; “On the front lines what we are seeing is that patients with chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are at higher risk for admission, as well as respiratory failure due to ARDS,”

He further added that; “Patients with asthma, COPD, as well as sleep apnea are at elevated risk for adverse outcomes including pneumonia, ARDs, and subsequent intubation.”

However, it doesn’t imply that all patients of this disease would eventually suffer from chronic illness. Discussing these diseases with reference to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), he said; “It’s unclear if those patients with underlying chronic disease who adequately manage their conditions are at lower risk for complications and adverse outcomes.“

The underlying medical conditions increase the severity and coronavirus (COVID-19) risk but it doesn’t mean that only older patients could be infected from coronavirus. It is a misconception that coronavirus is only deadly for old age people. Yesterday the UK has reported the death of a 13 years old boy who lost his life to coronavirus.

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As coronavirus cases are increasing in the USA, the most affected age group is estimated to be 20- to 44-years old US citizens. The risk is somehow higher for older patients but 20% of the confirmed cases belong to 22-44 years age range, confirmed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

People between 65 and 85 years of age account for less than 1/3^rd hospitalized cases and 20% of these cases involve young to middle-age adults.

 Dr. Michael Chang teaches pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He says that it is possible that these young people have got the infection from someone who is at high coronavirus (COVID-19) risk. In a news release, he shared that; “Even if your individual risk of severe disease is low, it would be very unfair for those high-risk patients if your actions exposed them to what could be a life-threatening disease.“

All this suggests that young people need to be attentive and more careful for coronavirus. Although their death rate is lesser than old age patients with underlying health conditions but it doesn’t mean that they are free from any risk. Social distancing is probably the best strategy that could help to control the spread of coronavirus in USA.