Unwanted record looms

Covid-19 fatalities in Malaysia younger than global average

February 2021 holds the record for Malaysia’s deadliest Covid-19 month, with 370 deaths. Unfortunately, an analysis of the past 12 months by The Star shows that May is set to top that number, with 34 fatalities recorded yesterday alone. Plus, the age group most at risk in Malaysia appears to be significantly younger than the global average.

PETALING JAYA: Nearly a third of Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia have been among those aged 50 to 64, significantly younger than the global average.

This is according to an analysis by The Star of the 1,506 deaths from March 2020 to April 2021, compared with statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Globally, the 80 and above age group has the highest fatality rate, accounting for 41.2% of total deaths – a stark contrast to the figure of 17.3% for the same group in Malaysia.

Conversely, the global average among the 50-64 age group was 17.6% of total deaths. In Malaysia, that number was 31.2%.

The high number of global deaths in the 80s age group is despite there being more confirmed and probable cases among those aged 20 to 59.

However, Universiti Sains Malaysia medical epidemiologist and biostatistician Assoc Prof Dr Kamarul Imran Musa believes that Malaysia’s death rates should not be compared with world rates but instead with other South-East Asian countries, where the demographic spread of age groups is similar.

“High income countries have a bigger percentage of old people, while Malaysia does not have that many. The results show that our deaths by age groups are almost similar to other countries in SouthEast Asia,” said Dr Kamarul.

He noted that countries with more advanced medical facilities like the United States, Australia and Switzerland hardly had any Covid-19 deaths among those below 20, while such cases are more common in South-East Asia.

The Star’s analysis also found that 88% of deaths in Malaysia were among those with underlying comorbidities, the most common of which being hypertension (62%), diabetes (46.5%), kidney disease (22.6%) and heart disease (20.6%).

Those with comorbidities should be more cautious and avoid any possibility of infection, said Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist and biostatistician Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman.

“For those who are still healthy, they need to avoid a sedentary lifestyle which has been linked to the occurrence of diseases,” she said.

Dr Kamarul said this could also partly explain why Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia have skewed towards males, who make up 64% of deaths based on The Star’s analysis.

“Males tend to have more risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes and obesity, among others.

“All these lead to a higher risk of infection and more severe Covid19 infection,” he said, adding that males are also at higher risk while under intensive care.

On the recent surge in Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia, Dr Kamarul said the country is facing another wave of infections, and that it will be a few more weeks before the wave peaks.

“We will continue to see a high number of fatalities. The government must act swiftly and more effectively to flatten the curve,” he said.