COVID-19 serious for young adults
Outbreak is affecting the entire population
It’s not just adults 65 and older. Americans of all ages have faced serious health complications amid the new coronavirus outbreak, a federal health report says.
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that among the roughly 12% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. known to need hospitalizations, about 1 in 5 were among people ages 20 to 44.
The CDC report released Wednesday tracked the health outcomes from Feb. 12 to March 16 for the 2,449 COVID-19 patients in the U.S. whose ages were known.
Health officials have warned that older adults and people with underlying medical conditions face a higher risk of complications due to COVID-19.
The data still indicates older Americans face a higher risk of hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit or even death.
However, that doesn’t mean younger Americans will not face serious health issues, either.
Anywhere from 14% to 21% of adults ages 20 to 44 with COVID-19 have been hospitalized, the CDC data estimates. About 2% to 4% of cases led to ICU admissions, and less than 1% were fatal.
“This virus is impacting the entire population, and it’s something the entire population should be responding to,” Dr. Wayne Tsuang, a pulmonary and critical care physician at the Cleveland Clinic, told USA TODAY.
The data set the CDC used is limited and does not account for underlying medical conditions. Many more young adults could have COVID-19 with mild symptoms not requiring hospitalization and without their cases being tracked by public health officials.
Tsuang said more data collection is needed to better understand the risks younger people face. The data may overestimate the prevalence of severe disease, the report says, because testing has skewed toward those with travel histories or more serious symptoms.
Still, a hospitalization can have longterm effects on young people. Those hospitalized with COVID-19 will likely be isolated for many days and away from school or work, Tsuang said, not to mention the serious symptoms they’re facing that caused their hospitalization.
“It takes a while for a patient to fully recover after a hospitalization,” he said.
The CDC report also underscores a warning from Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator.
“There are concerning reports coming out of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill, and very seriously ill in the ICUs,” Birx said at a news conference Wednesday.
Birx said younger adults taking fewer precautions may have gotten sick as they saw early reports from China and South Korea showing mostly older people and those with underlying conditions affected.