Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are found all over the world. They can cause respiratory illness in both humans and animals.
Coronaviruses have sparked global concern over the past two decades: an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS in 2003, in 2012 - Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS and most recently the outbreak of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. This particular virus emerged in China at the end of 2019 in the city of Wuhan.
On January 30, 2020, WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. Already on March 11 of the same year, WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a global pandemic.
The following are risk factors that likely predispose people to contracting COVID-19.
Read to the end to get the most useful information.
1. Age 65 and over
People over 65 are at a higher risk of contracting coronavirus due to decreased immunity. In addition, they usually have some comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The elderly also have a severe course of the disease and a high mortality rate.
2. Lung diseases
People with chronic lung disease, especially asthma, are more likely to contract COVID-19. Moreover, such patients are more likely to experience severe complications. Since there is still no cure for COVID-19, the best thing to do in this case is to take precautions.
3. Serious heart disease
According to the European Society of Cardiology, people with diseases such as heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, advanced forms of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and patients with congenital cyanotic disease hearts.
4. Obesity
Obesity reduces protective cardio-respiratory reserves and impairs immune regulation, which probably contributes to the progression of the disease to a critical stage.
A 2020 study published in the journal Diabetes Care shows that COVID-19 patients are two and a half times more likely to have severe pneumonia if they are obese.
5. Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the main risk factors for hospitalization and death from coronavirus. In diabetics, the immune response to infection is impaired, associated with the cytokine profile and changes in immune responses, including the activation of T cells and macrophages. In addition, poor glycemic control also impairs some aspects of the immune response to viral infection in the lungs.
6. Chronic kidney disease
People with chronic kidney disease are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Such patients should continue with regular, planned treatment and take the necessary precautions recommended by their healthcare provider.
7. Liver disease
All patients with liver disease are at risk of adverse outcomes from the virus. These include those with immune suppression from liver transplants or autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and liver cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy.
8. Immunocompromised people
A person of any age group may have a decrease in immunity. Conditions that can lead to a weakened immune system include cancer treatment, smoking and alcohol dependence, transplant bone marrow or organs, immunodeficiency, poorly controlled AIDS and long-term use of corticosteroids and others drugs.
