COVID-19 Top Targets: Smokers, Men, And The Elderly

KEY POINTS

COVID-19 affected men, smokers and the elderly more as compared to the rest
Men accounted for more than 50% of COVID-19 infections
8% of COVID-19 patients aged 70 and above have died

Viruses can strike a particular group of people severely compared to others. The 1918 flu which claimed 50 million lives worldwide targeted the young adults in particular. The Zika outbreak in 2015-16 had a devastating effect on pregnant ladies. The SARS in Hong Kong in 2003 affected more women than men, but the death rate was higher in men than women.

The new COVID-19 is no exception. It seemed to have affected men, smokers and the elderly more as compared to the rest.

According to the experts at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, COVID-19 which originated in China appears to get more dangerous with age.

“There seems to be this threshold -- below [age] 35 we’re seeing practically zero [cases],” WebMD quoted Michael Mina, MD, Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology. “As people increase in age from their 40s to 80s, we’re seeing mortality increase,” he added.

Among children aged 1-9 and 10-19, COVID-19 has affected only 1% of all Chinese infections. According to the JAMA, there weren’t any coronavirus-related deaths observed among children.

Per the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), men were more vulnerable to coronaviruses and accounted for more than 50% of the cases. Death rates were also found to be higher- almost double, among COVID-19 patients.

Among individuals aged 70 and above, 8% of the infected died and mortality rates were about 15% in older adults aged 80 and above. According to Mina, people in their 80s had a high risk of not getting discharged from the hospital if treated for COVID-19.

Compared to women, Chinese men are more likely to be smokers and several experts believe that COVID-19 could hit smokers harder than non-smokers or women. A 2019 study from the WHO reported that 47.6% of Chinese men smoked and only 1.8% of women in china smoked. The Fortune mentioned that China’s sky-high smoking rate among men could be an underlying cause behind the severity of symptoms and COVID-19 deaths.

Experts also opined that women mount a stronger immune response to infection, mentioned the New York Times. Per the recent CDC reports, although both women and men are affected in roughly equal numbers, experts have reported that the death rate was 2.8% in men compared to just 1.7% in women.