New Delhi, June 27 (Representative) The latest study done by a large private hospital in the national capital has made some surprising observations about Covid-19.According to the study, younger patients with certain comorbidities were found to be at higher risk of disease progression than the elderly with similar underlying health conditions. This study was conducted by researchers at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on 2,586 patients hospitalised for Covid from April 8, 2020, to October 4, 2020, to observe the association of diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the prognosis and mortality of the Covid infection. The study was published in the journal ‘Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry’ on June 25. “Study showed the risk of the severity of Covid-19 infection in younger patients with underlying comorbidities were found to be relatively at higher risk of severity of disease as well as to mortality compared to elderly patients with a similar underlying condition,” said Vivek Ranjan, co-author of the study and chairperson–Department of Blood Transfusion at the hospital.
The researchers found that the presence of comorbidity poses a greater risk of ICU admission while they also indicated CKD to be the “most susceptible to death outcome” in Covid-19 patients, followed by hypertension and diabetes. The mortality rate during the study was calculated to be 12.3 per cent which is many times greater than the universal assumption of 2 per cent for the disease. “Out of 2,586 patients who were taken as study subjects, 30.1 per cent (779) needed ICU admission while 69.9 per cent (1,807) did not. About 12.3 per cent (317) of patients died,” the researchers noted. “On comparing the impact of multiple co-morbidities with the severity of Covid-19 infection, it was found that the presence of co-morbidity poses a greater risk of ICU admission. As the number of comorbidities increases, the risk of severity of Covid-19 infection also increases significantly,” said Dr D S Rana, one of the authors of the study and chairperson of the hospital’s department of Renal Sciences.
Another major highlight of the study was the impact of Covid-19 with respect to the gender. The study also found that females with comorbidities were at greater risk of infection progression compared to their male counterparts.”Our study also found that females were relatively at higher risk of mortality as compared to males having same comorbid conditions except for hypertensive patients,” said Dr Rashmi Rana, Author and Consultant at the department of Research in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.Speaking on the outcomes in contrast to the general perception wherein people aged 60 and above are believed to be more susceptible to the Covid-19 infection, Dr Rashmi said that similar outcomes were also noted in many countries like Mexico, South Korea, USA, UAE to name a few. “Due to the low rate of immunity in the elderly population, the notion was developed that they were at greater risk. However, our study indicates that younger lots with the comorbid condition are at no lesser risk of severity and mortality than senior citizens,” she told UNI.Dr Rashmi also said that the research will help in guiding the future course of Covid-19 vaccination in terms of policy making and age prioritization.