News: COVID-19 patients with underlying conditions 12 times as likely to die

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 patients with an underlying condition are six times as likely to be hospitalized than those patients without, and 12 times as likely to die. 

Only 7.6% of patients without underlying conditions were hospitalized for COVID-19; 45.4% of those with underlying conditions, however, were hospitalized. During the study period of January 22 through May 20, the gap for deaths between patients with and without underlying conditions was even greater than that of hospitalizations. Nearly 20% of COVID-19 patients with underlying conditions died compared to 1.6% of those without.

The CDC says that the pandemic continues to be severe, with confirmed cases up to May 30 being twice as high for patients aged over 80 than those ages 70-79. “among cases with known race and ethnicity, 33% of persons were Hispanic, 22% were black, and 1.3% were [American Indian/Alaska Native],” said the CDC. “These finding suggest that persons in these groups, who account for 18%, 13%, and 0.7% of the U.S. population, respectively, are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

There was also a disparity based on gender, with incidence among males and females being similar but with severe outcomes more commonly reported among males (4.8% versus 6%).

The most frequently reported underlying conditions were cardiovascular disease (32%), diabetes (30%), chronic lung disease (18%), and renal disease (7.6%).

Editor’s note: The CDC report can be found here. To read ACDIS’ coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here, and to specifically read about comorbid conditions and COVID-19, click here.