Covid-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that can trigger what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. It can affect the upper respiratory tract, viz. sinuses, nose, and throat or lower respiratory tract, viz. windpipe, and lungs. Severe cases can lead to serious respiratory disease, and even pneumonia. On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global health emergency. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared it a global pandemic.

1. 8 Major Risk Factors for Covid-19 Infection
Covid-19 is an acronym of coronavirus disease 2019. Coronaviruses are a large
family of viruses that are common throughout the world. They can cause
respiratory illness in people and animals.
This particular one originated in China at the end of 2019 in the city of Wuhan.
In the past two decades, coronavirus outbreaks have caused global concern,
including one in 2003 with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and
more recently in 2012 with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
Covid-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that can trigger what doctors call
a respiratory tract infection. It can affect the upper respiratory tract, viz. sinuses,
nose, and throat or lower respiratory tract, viz. windpipe, and lungs. Severe cases
can lead to serious respiratory disease, and even pneumonia.
On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global health
emergency. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared it a global pandemic.
Risk factors -
The following are the risk factors that are likely to predispose the
people to Covid-19 infection:
1. Age 65 years and older:

2. ➢ People, who are 65 years and older, are at a higher risk of
Covid-19 infection due to their decreased immunity.
➢ They are more likely to have some associated co-morbidities
like diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
➢ Also, the course of disease tends to be more severe in them
resulting in higher mortality. However, its transmission among
the elderly population can be reduced by taking appropriate
preventive measures.
2. Chronic lung disease and asthma:
➢ People with asthma are more likely to catch Covid-19.
➢ The hospital data shows that respiratory patients are more
likely to experience severe complications.
➢ As there is still no cure for it, the best action that people can
take is to protect themselves from infection. The same is the
case with other chronic lung diseases.
3. Serious heart conditions:
➢ Covid-19 causes direct damage to the lungs and triggers an
inflammatory response, which places stress on the
cardiovascular system in two ways, viz. by infecting the lungs
the blood oxygen levels drop and the inflammatory effects of
the virus itself cause the blood pressure to drop as well.
➢ In such cases, the heart must beat faster and harder to supply
oxygen to major organs.
➢ According to the European Society of Cardiology, individuals
with heart conditions such as heart failure, dilated
cardiomyopathy, advanced forms of arrhythmogenic right
ventricular cardiomyopathy, and patients with congenital
cyanotic heart disease are at the highest risk.

3. 4. Severe obesity:
➢ There are increasing number of reports that have linked obesity
to more severe Covid-19 infection and death.
➢ Obesity reduces the protective cardio-respiratory reserves and
weakens the immune regulation that appears likely to help the
progression to critical stage of the disease.
➢ Researchers found that among individuals with Covid-19 aged
less than 60 years in New York City, those with a BMI between
30-34 Kg/m2 and greater than 35 Kg/m2 were 1.8 times and
3.6 times more likely to be admitted to critical care
respectively than individuals with a BMI lesser than 30 Kg/m2.
➢ A new study published in 2020 in Diabetes Care concluded
that patients with Covid-19 are two and a half times more
likely to have severe pneumonia if they are obese than if they
are not.
➢ Obesity brings with itself a chronic inflammatory state.
Whether obesity is an independent risk factor for susceptibility
to infection requires further research.
5. Diabetes:
➢ Diabetes is a risk factor for hospitalization and mortality of the
Covid-19 infection.
➢ Diabetics have impaired immune response to infection
concerning cytokine profile and changes in immune-responses
including T-cell and macrophage activation.
➢ Poor glycemic control impairs several aspects of the immune
response to viral infection and also to the potential bacterial
secondary infection in the lungs.
➢ Poor glycemic control is a risk factor for Covid-19 infection
and its adverse outcomes. Hence the importance of tight
glycemic control in diabetics cannot be overlooked.
6. Chronic kidney disease:

4. ➢ People with chronic kidney disease are at an increased risk of
the infection.
➢ People on dialysis can have weaker immune systems, making
it harder to fight infections. Nonetheless, the kidney patients
need to continue with their regularly scheduled dialysis
treatments and to take necessary precautions as recommended
by their healthcare provider.
➢ People with a kidney transplant need to take anti-rejection
medicines, also known as immunosuppressive medicines,
which keep the immune system less active.
7. Liver disease:
➢ All patients with liver disease are at risk of adverse outcomes
from the virus. Also, some people with certain liver conditions
are extremely vulnerable.
➢ They include people on immune-suppression for a liver
transplant or for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and people with
liver cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy.
8. Immune-compromised people:
➢ A person of any age group can become immune-compromised.
➢ The conditions that can cause a person to be immune-
compromised include cancer treatment, smoking, bone
marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly
controlled AIDS, and prolonged use of corticosteroids and
other immune weakening medications.
➢ There are reports that, in some Covid-19 patients, death has
occurred probably due to a cytokine storm, when the immune
system goes into overdrive, thereby damaging even healthy
tissue that may lead to multiple organ failure, sepsis, and even
death.

5. Conclusion -
Certain people are at high risk for a severe infection if they
catch Covid-19. Everyone needs to take steps to protect
themselves and others from catching or spreading it. But
people belonging to a high-risk category must take all the
necessary precautions to protect themselves.
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