Covid-19 patients with chronic medical conditions fare worse than most

A diabetic patient measures her glucose levels. Those with chronic conditions like diabetes are more at risk of serious complications from Covid-19. — AFP

Doctors have been warning for months that “underlying conditions” raise your risk of getting hit hard with the coronavirus.

But which conditions, and how much difference does each one make?

The first comprehensive American numbers were published on March 31 (2020), illustrating just how much worse the consequences of an infection can be for those with heart, lung and kidney problems.

Hospitalisation status was listed for 7,162 infected patients for whom medical history was available:

• Among 784 patients with diabetes, half were hospitalised, including 148 (18.8%) in intensive care.
• Among 656 patients with chronic lung disease, one-third were hospitalised, including 94 (14.3%) in intensive care.
• For 213 infected people with kidney disease, two-thirds were hospitalised, including 56 (26.2%) in intensive care.
• Current and former smokers also fared worse than other infected patients, on average.

The data were published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the numbers represented the first large-scale description of hospitalised Covid-19 patients in the United States, the authors cautioned that the data was incomplete and that the percentages would change.

“This analysis was limited by small numbers and missing data because of the burden placed on reporting health departments with rapidly rising case counts,” the study authors wrote.

The study did not include patients who have died from Covid-19, as the the health history for many of these cases was not yet available. – Tom Avril/The Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service