Coronavirus: Why Are There Patients Who Are Cured And The Elderly Not So Much?
The coronavirus that produces the current outbreak of infections around the world generates asymptomatic cases, patients who are cured, and others who suffer severe forms of the disease. Among severe cases, the group that suffers the most are the elderly.
Most of the deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in those over 65 years of age, with underlying diseases, and after going through a severe respiratory clinical picture. These patients are usually admitted to intensive care units, sometimes requiring the use of an artificial respirator.
These respirators are machines used to replace lost respiratory function. The damage that SARS-CoV-2 causes to the lung tissue makes it inefficient for gas exchange, and that is why an external support is needed to try to survive.
Now, researchers wonder why the coronavirus has patients who are cured and others who become seriously ill. In turn, the other important question is why seriously ill patients tend to be older adults.
Answers to these questions streamline the effectiveness of prevention measures and improve treatment protocols. If we understand how SARS-CoV-2 infects, we are closer to containing it.
The coronavirus figures among the elderly
The short global experience with the coronavirus suggests that age is a major risk factor for severe COVID-19 attack. So far, almost 95% of deaths have occurred in people over the age of 65.
The older the infected person is, the worse their prognosis. Among those under 60 years of age, the lethality of the coronavirus is less than 1%. This means that in this age group 1 person dies for every 100 who are infected.
But if we focus on older people, the fatality increases. Already among those over 70 years it is around 5%, meaning that 5 out of every 100 infected die. And in those over 80 the rate can reach 15%, according to studies that have already been systematized.
This characteristic explains why in countries like Italy and Spain the mortality associated with the coronavirus is so high. The virus has settled, to a large extent, in the groups of older adults in these regions, increasing the fatality rate at the expense of the elderly.
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