Weight and age are key factors in fatalities, survey finds

A micrograph of a dying cell (red) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow). Picture: AFP

A study of more than 16,000 British hospital patients suffering from the coronavirus has revealed those who died were more often “elderly, male and obese’’.

The study, conducted by the University of Liverpool, University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London — from 16,749 COVID-19 patients — found “increased age and comorbidities including obesity were associated with a higher probability of mortality’’. In other words, being old and overweight kills.

This is the first study of so many patients that has confirmed anecdotal evidence from overseas that people who are overweight are more susceptible to dying from a severe case of COVID-19.

The UK research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that obesity increased the risk of dying by 37 per cent, only second to dementia, which increased the death risk by 39 per cent.

Being overweight was also more dangerous than suffering chronic heart disease (31 per cent), kidney disease (25 per cent) and pulmonary disease (19 per cent).

The excess weight is believed to reduce lung function and possibly more inflammation in fatty tissue that magnifies the “cytokine storm’’ immune reaction.

The study was conducted on coronavirus patients admitted across 166 British hospitals between February 6 and April 18. The median age was 72, and median hospital stay was seven days.

While the number of hospitalised coronavirus patients with comorbidities was 47 per cent, the death rate among them was dramatically higher. Of those who died, 88 per cent had some form of comorbidity, usually chronic cardiac disease, uncomplicated diabetes, non-asthmatic chronic pulmonary disease or asthma. Seventeen per cent of those coronavirus patients in hospital were then transferred to intensive care or high-dependency units — and 45 per cent of them died.

The study found three distinct clusters of symptoms in the coronavirus patients. As well as the well-established coronavirus respiratory symptoms of high fever, a cough and difficulty breathing, there were two other clusters. These were classified as “systemic’’ (myalgia, joint pain and ­fatigue) and “enteric’’ (abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea).

Nearly half (49 per cent) have been discharged from hospital, while 33 per cent have died.

In line with other research, the study found that 60 per cent of hospital admissions were male, and that women were 20 per cent more likely to survive a severe case of the virus.

Professor Calum Semple, of the University of Liverpool, said: “One in three people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the UK have contributed to this vital research. The contribution of UK patients in such tragic circumstances has been critical to improving the global understanding of this terrible disease. We must do everything humanly possible to understand this disease, so that we are better prepared for the next wave of this pandemic.”