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Who are most susceptible to COVID-19?

Who are most susceptible to COVID-19?. The culprit of the global COVID-19 epidemic is the little guy in the picture with a “crown”-shaped protrusion on the surface-the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It is not much different from MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) and the original SARS-CoV (SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) in appearance. Both belong to the Coronavirus family and belong to the β-coronavirus genus. , Is the seventh coronavirus known to infect humans.

And this little virus is currently threatening the health of everyone in the world. With the increase in the number of infected people and the deepening of research on susceptible populations, the portraits of susceptible populations of the new coronavirus have gradually become clear…

Below, we will uncover the veil of the portraits of susceptible people layer by layer from different analysis angles.

Demographic analysis-30-59 year olds have the highest infection rate

A demographic study based on data from people infected with COVID-19 pneumonia in 10 provinces and cities in China showed that middle-aged and middle-aged people are susceptible to the new coronavirus. The study was divided into 5 age groups according to the age of patients for analysis. Among them, patients aged 30 to 44 accounted for the highest proportion at 28.65%, followed by 45 to 59 years old, accounting for 24.57%.

Analyzing the reasons for the susceptibility of such people can be summarized as: young and middle-aged people are active outdoors, often take transportation to go out to work, the time and probability of participating in crowd gathering are relatively long, the frequency is also higher, and the risk of exposure and infection of the new coronavirus Elevated. The middle-aged and elderly people often suffer from chronic underlying diseases due to relatively weak autoimmunity, and their ability to resist diseases is relatively weak. Therefore, the risk of disease is high and the mortality rate is also high.

Global morbidity and mortality statistics-men are more susceptible than women, and the mortality rate is higher

On April 9, 2020, the White House pointed out at a press conference that the 1.5 million tested data showed that 56% of the people tested were women, and the positive detection rate was 16%, which accounted for 44% of the people tested. For men, the positive detection rate is 23%. It is obvious that men have a higher positive detection rate. In New York, the epicenter of the epidemic, men accounted for nearly 60% of the death toll announced in real time.

In Italy, the world’s highest mortality rate, the male to female mortality ratio is 4:1. In Wuhan, China, the proportion of deaths among male patients can be as high as 75%, with the 60-80-year-old population as the main body.

Analyzing the reason why men have higher morbidity and mortality than women, the most likely factor is smoking. According to statistics, among the 1.1 billion smokers in the world, the number of men is much greater than that of women. When infected with the new coronavirus, smoking increases the risk of severe illness. This may be related to the increased expression of ACE2, which is the receptor for the new coronavirus to bind to human cells. Secondly, the reason why men are more infected with the COVID-19 than women may also be related to factors such as excessive alcoholism in men, a high proportion of underlying diseases, and androgen effects.

For a detailed introduction to the ACE2 protein, you can search for “ACE2” for relevant information, which is not only a COVID-19 virus receptor, but also a hypertension regulator!

Study on twins with COVID-19 pneumonia symptoms-host genes may affect the body’s susceptibility and symptom performance

The Twins Research Institute at King’s College London, UK did an interesting study. They developed an APP called “C-19 Covid Symptom Tracker” to collect the onset symptoms of 2633 twin volunteers and calculate the occurrence of various symptoms. The degree of influence of genetic factors. It was found that the heritability rate of fever was 41%, the heritability rate of loss of smell was 47%, the heritability rate of confusion was 49%, shortness of breath was 43%, and diarrhea was 34%. It is worth noting that some of the symptoms of COVID-19 pneumonia, such as hoarseness, cough, chest pain and abdominal pain, are determined by the environment and have nothing to do with genetics.

GWAS gene big data analysis-blood type O has a lower risk of severe illness than blood type A

On June 17, 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published the first large-scale genomic association study (GWAS) paper since the COVID-19 epidemic, and found two loci at 3p21.31 that are significantly related to the severity of Covid-19. rs11385942 locus and rs657152 locus 9q34.2. The article suggests that when the rs11385942 locus of locus 3p21.31 is GA or G, the risk of respiratory failure in Covid-19 patients increases by 77%; and the 9q34.2 locus coincides with the ABO blood group locus, and it is found that patients with blood type A Covid-19 The risk of severe illness increases by 45%, and blood type O has a protective effect, reducing the risk of severe illness by 35%.

Meta-analysis of susceptibility genes-the severity of COVID-19 infection is related to influenza susceptibility genes

In 2018, Chinese and foreign researchers almost simultaneously reported the results of meta-analysis: the polymorphism at the rs12252 locus of the IFITM3 gene is significantly related to the risk of flu susceptibility in East Asia and whites. In April this year, a study from Beijing You’an Hospital reported that the genotype of this locus is related to the severity of COVID-19 infection. When the locus is of type CC, infection with COVID-19 is prone to severe symptoms, and the older you are, the risk Higher.

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein (IFITM) is a family of viral restriction factor proteins. IFITM3 can protect cells from a variety of viral infections. When this protein is expressed in large amounts in the body, the spread of the virus in the lungs will be hindered, but if If the protein itself is defective or lacks expression in the body, the virus can spread more easily and cause serious diseases.

In summary, we can make a clear summary of people who are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus. People who fall into this picture are requested to pay more attention to their health, prevent virus infection, and survive the epidemic safely.

Important Note: The information provided in medicaltrend.org is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice.