The pandemic wave has started. In the coming weeks, thousands more people in Germany will be infected with the new Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. Even if measures such as the prohibition of public events and changes in behavior take effect and the peak of the outbreak is delayed, the death will continue virus give. It is now a matter of protecting all those who are particularly at risk: especially older people, but also those of all ages who have chronic diseases, whose immune systems are weakened and who now need our support more than ever. And everyone can help.
It cannot be repeated often enough: the older people are, the more likely infection with Sars-CoV-2 is fatal. The first small studies already suggested this in January. Now this finding is confirmed more and more insistently. This was recently documented by a group of experts from the World Health Organization WHOwhen she was on the road in China for nine days and evaluated the data of almost 56,000 infected people treated in Chinese hospitals (PDF: Joint Mission Report Covid-19, 2020). According to these data, about 22 percent of those over 80 years old died of Covid-19. That is more than one in five.
For comparison: the overall mortality rate, i.e. the proportion of people who died from the infection, was just under four percent in this study. In truth, it is likely to be significantly lower, since many infections are so mild that those affected did not have to be treated in hospital or did not even notice because they did not seek medical treatment.
In another large study involving nearly 45,000 patients from China, around 15 percent of patients who were at least 80 years old died (CDC Weekly: CPERE Novel, 2020). Among the 70- to 79-year-olds, one in twelve, i.e. eight percent, succumbed to the disease, compared to 3.6 percent among the 60- to 69-year-olds. This shows that from 50 to 60 years the risk of a severe course of the disease increases significantly. And without specific therapy and a vaccine, these people need a place in an intensive care unit, a ventilator, and circulatory stabilizers. And these places are threatening to run out.
Of course, there can also be mild courses of Covid 19 disease for people of old age. But they are less likely because the body’s defense works less well over the years. Researchers speak of immune senescence. “Older people may experience a delayed response to the virus because of this – the pathogen can spread more than younger people,” says virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. In many cases, this could even ensure that the immune system overreacts later and not only attacks pathogens, but also its own body cells. “Such a reaction is one of the reasons why many old people are so bad with Covid-19.”
But basic diseases can also cause the virus to settle in the body and overcome its lines of defense. In principle, this affects people of all ages who have cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or high blood pressure. This increases the risk of a serious Covid-19 infection, as researchers from China in the magazine said The Lancet write (Zhou et al., 2020). “Previous illnesses reduce the performance of the body. The immune system has a harder time fighting back against the pathogens,” says Schmidt-Chanasit. This affects people regardless of their age. But older people are particularly affected because they are more likely to have not just one pre-existing condition but several.
The Robert Koch Institute also names people with chronic diseases of the liver and lungs, people who suffer from cancer or have an immune deficiency, and smokers. Covid-19 is a lung disease, so anything that strains or directly damages the respiratory tract can become a problem. Of course, this includes cigarettes, but sometimes also vaporizers. Smoking, at least in China, could cause men to die of the infection more often than women. Because there smoking is more a matter for men. Further data must show whether this assumption is confirmed.
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