Half of hospitalised COVID-19 patients develop organ complications irrespective of age: Study
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Though the complications in those hospitalised with COVID-19 were most common in the 50+ age category, the study found a significant risk for younger people as well.
One in every two persons hospitalised with COVID-19 had developed at least one problem affecting key organs of the body, according to research published in The Lancet.
Though difficulties were most likely in persons over the age of 50, the study discovered that younger people were also at risk.
The sickness had impacted the kidney, heart, and lungs of patients who had to attend hospitalisation after being infected with the virus, according to a survey of more than 70,000 people in 302 UK hospitals. Age of comorbidity was not a prominent factor in these cases.
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“This work contradicts current narratives that COVID-19 is only dangerous in people with existing comorbidities and the elderly. Dispelling and contributing to the scientific debate around such narratives has become increasingly important,” Calum Semple, chief investigator of the study and a professor at the University of Liverpool, UK, said in a statement.
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Sixty-six per cent of the 73,197 patients tested were men, 81% had an underlying health condition, 74% were Caucasian, and the average age of the cohort was 71 years.
Over 12% of those questioned were under the age of 49. Almost one-third of the study's participants died.
Overall, 50% of all individuals experienced problems, with 44% of those who survived experiencing them.
(With inputs from agencies)