Seniors and those with other illnesses such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure are the most vulnerable to the epidemic of the new coronavirus, which is claiming more lives among men than women.
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Since its appearance in China in December, the coronavirus has caused more than 2,800 deaths out of 83,000 infected people in at least 53 countries. Certain categories of the population are however clearly at higher risk, according to the available data.
– The mortality rate increases markedly with age
The most complete analysis to date, published on February 17 by the Chinese authorities and then on February 24 in the American medical journal Jama, thus shows that the mortality rate increases markedly with age.
Out of nearly 45,000 confirmed cases, the average mortality rate is 2.3%. Up to the age of 39, the mortality rate remains very low, at 0.2%, then drops to 0.4% in those in their forties, 1.3% in those aged 50-59, 3.6% in those aged 60- 69 years and 8% in the 70-79 age group.
People over the age of 80 are most at risk with a mortality rate of 14.8%.
Outside of China, there are also many elderly people among the victims. In Italy, the most affected country in Europe, at least six people among the first 14 deaths were aged 80 or over.
– No young children
There are no deaths among children under 10. The absence of casualties among the youngest leaves experts perplexed, since infants and young children are usually among those vulnerable to infectious diseases.
“It’s surprising, because when you look at all the other respiratory infections – bacterial or viral – you almost always have a lot of serious cases in the very elderly, but also in the very young, especially those under the age of five”, points out Cécile Viboud, epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health (United States).
– Men more threatened than women
Men are more threatened than women by a fatal outcome: while they represent 51.4% of the cases confirmed in this study by the Chinese authorities, they account for almost two-thirds of deaths (63.8%).
– Tobacco aggravating factor
This higher death rate among men can be explained “At least in part” by smoking. Being a smoker is one of the parameters that increase the risk of death. The proportion of smokers is higher among men than among women.
– People already sick
Chinese statistics also point to other possible risk factors, including having a chronic disease. The mortality rate climbs to 6.3% in patients with respiratory disease (respiratory failure, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc.).
It is even 10.5% in those who have a cardiovascular disease (heart failure, history of stroke or infarction …) and 7.3% in people with diabetes. Patients with hypertension (6%) or cancer (5.6%) also have a higher mortality rate, while it drops to 0.9% in healthy people.
These profiles are found among the victims of other countries. For example, in Italy, among the first 14 victims, one was hospitalized for cancer, another had a heart attack a few days earlier, a third suffered from heart conditions and was on dialysis, and at least two others had serious diseases.
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