COVID-19 strikes patients with underlying conditions harder, CDC study confirms

People with one or more reported underlying health conditions are more likely to require hospitalization and intensive care unit admission than those without underlying health conditions, new CDC data shows.

Researchers analyzed data from 122,653 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories and affiliated islands from Feb. 12 to March 28. The data did not include cases among those repatriated to the U.S. from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Of the 122,653 COVID-19 cases, 7,162 had data pertaining to underlying health conditions and other known risk factors.

The most commonly reported underlying conditions were diabetes mellitus (784 patients), chronic lung disease (656 patients) and cardiovascular disease (647 patients).

Seventy-eight percent of the 457 patients admitted to the ICU had at least one underlying health condition or risk factor. Similarly, 71 percent of the 1,037 patients requiring hospitalization had an underlying health condition or risk factor.

"These preliminary findings suggest that in the United States, persons with underlying health conditions or other recognized risk factors for severe outcomes from respiratory infections appear to be at a higher risk for severe disease from COVID-19 than are persons without these conditions," researchers wrote.

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