Smoking, Diabetes, Lung And Heart Disease May Risk Severe Covid-19 Disease: CDC

37.6% of cases show one or more underlying health conditions or risk factors.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 – People with underlying illnesses may be more prone to developing severe complications if they contract the coronavirus, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among the 7,162 US coronavirus cases, where data was available on pre-existing medical conditions, investigated for its first report, the CDC found that 37.6 per cent had one or more underlying health conditions or risk factors, while 62.4 per cent had none of these conditions reported.

The most widely reported conditions were diabetes, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease. The CDC also highlighted smoking as a risk factor for developing severe complications from Covid-19.

“These preliminary findings suggest that in the United States, persons with underlying health conditions or other recognised risk factors for severe outcomes from respiratory infections appear to be at a higher risk for severe disease from Covid-19 than are persons without these conditions,” the CDC said, according to CNBC.

The CDC’s finding matched that of researchers in China and Italy, which are two of the world’s hardest-hit countries.

Apart from that, another study by the journal Pediatrics found that some children can contract severe or critical disease, but the number of asymptomatic, mild or moderate cases exceeded 90 per cent. Critical cases took up 6 per cent of children’s cases, as compared to adults’ 18.5 per cent.

The US continues to record an increasing number of positive cases and deaths related to Covid-19. The death toll, now at more than 3,000, now has surpassed that of the 9/11 attack.

The total number of cases stood at 181,000 as of yesterday. Officials believe that the death toll will surge over the next few weeks as hospitals are running out of space to house all patients.

The US government has now resorted to building hundreds of makeshift hospitals near its cities to reduce the burden of its strained health care system.

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