Study: 99% of Patients Killed by Coronavirus in Italy Had Existing Illnesses

Written by Daily Mail on March 20, 2020. Posted in Current News

This chart shows how most Italian coronavirus victims had pre-existing health conditions, with almost half of them suffering from three or even more illnesses before they were infected

99 per cent of coronavirus deaths in Italy are patients with existing medical problems, a study by the country’s health service has found.

Research into 355 deaths found that only three of the victims, 0.8 per cent, had been clear of illnesses before they were infected.

Nearly half of them – 48.5 per cent – already had three or even more health conditions before they were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Another 25.6 per cent had two other ‘pathologies’, while 25.1 per cent had one.

The research by Italy’s National Institute of Health is consistent with previous findings that people with existing illnesses are more likely to die from coronavirus.

According to the study, the most common of these problems in Italy include high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

Some 76.1 per cent of the patients who died of Covid-19 had previously had problems with high arterial blood pressure, the study found.

More than a third – 35.5 per cent – had diabetes, while 33.0 per cent had suffered from ischemic heart disease.

Nearly a quarter, 24.5 per cent, had suffered from atrial fibrillation. Less common examples included dementia and liver disease.

Scientists have not yet established why people with high blood pressure are more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. says it needs ‘more data to become available’ to investigate the link properly.

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