Community Chat

[golding76]

Just read this article on a recent study.  One unexpected "discovery" is that white people had the highest vulnerability.

1 in 3 young adults ‘vulnerable’ to severe COVID-19 cases, especially smokers

By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon 

July 14, 2020 | 12:18pm |

A woman smokes an electronic cigaretteGetty Images/iStockphoto

One in three young adults is vulnerable to severe cases of coronavirus — with smoking playing a big role, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that 32 percent of people aged between 18 and 25 who took part in the study were “medically vulnerable” to the deadly pandemic — but that the figure dropped to 16 percent when smokers of cigarettes and e-cigarettes were removed from the sample, CNN reported Monday.

“Recent evidence indicates that smoking is associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 progression, including increased illness severity, ICU admission, or death,” said researcher Sally Adams, the study’s lead author. “Smoking may have significant effects in young adults, who typically have low rates of most chronic diseases.”

More than 8,000 young adults took part in the National Health Interview Survey for the study, which sought to assess their vulnerability to the virus.

One in 10 of the participants had smoked cigarettes within 30 days, and one in 14 had smoked e-cigarettes during that time, the outlet said.

Although more women in the study reported suffering from asthma or immune conditions, the higher rate of men who smoked showed that they were more vulnerable to the bug — although women were more at risk among nonsmokers, the study said.

One surprising finding in the study was that white people had the highest vulnerability — contradicting research that racial and ethnic minorities had a higher death rate from the coronavirus than other groups.

“Our finding of lower medical vulnerability of racial/ethnic minorities compared with the white subgroup, despite controlling for income and insurance status, was unexpected,” the study said.

“It is also inconsistent with research showing higher rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and other chronic illnesses among racial/ethnic minorities, specific to one age group.

“This suggests that factors other than the CDC’s medical vulnerability criteria play a role in the risk of severe COVID-19 illness in the young adult population.”

[Mmsfoxxie]

@QueenDanceALot, I feel that way, too.  "Only the strong survive.  Get used to it".  Seems very mean spirited.  I do believe that there's something about some people that makes them more susceptible to Covid.  But, hey, if I'm not careful, that someone might be me....or close family.  

I just can't feel good thinking it's only a percentage that die.  At least that's the way it looks right now.  Things can change, though, if the virus mutates the right way.

[suzyQ3]

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@QueenDanceALot wrote:

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@gardenman wrote:

Can we ever get back to normal? Absolutely. This virus is very selective. It's targeting a very specific set of people for the worst outcome. For most people, a reported 95% (though the real-world number is likely higher) it presents with no, or very minor symptoms. Those it hits hardest, young and old alike, are likely to have a genetic susceptibility that the virus is exploiting. If we can identify that vulnerability then we can focus on ways to address it. 

It doesn't matter if you get the virus once, twice, or fifty times if it doesn't present any major symptoms. and this virus doesn't present major symptoms for the vast majority of those infected. Identifying those most at risk and finding ways to protect them should let everyone get back to normal. There are four related coronaviruses that cause the common cold. The Covid-19 virus could quickly become just another nuisance virus and not a major issue if we can identify those most vulnerable and find a way to protect them.

What we're seeing playing out in real-time in the real world is Darwinian evolution. The weak and those vulnerable to the virus are being eliminated while the stronger/less vulnerable are surviving just fine. We're just not used to seeing Darwinian evolution play out in real-time among humans. We're used to being in control, or having the illusion we're in control. God, Mother Nature, fate, whatever is reminding us we're not really in control.

In some ways we're lucky. This virus is letting 95+% survive while less than 5% suffer the worst fate. It could have just as easily been the opposite with a small percentage of the population having a genetic advantage that let them survive a viral disaster that killed 95+% of the rest of humanity.

Identifying why some are more vulnerable, likely a genetic issue of some sort given the wildly varying death rates worldwide and finding a patch for that should let everyone get back to normal and turn Covid-19 into nothing more than another nuisance virus.

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@gardenman 

"If" the virus doesn't present major problems for those who survive.

It's looking as though that might not be the case.

I think seeing this as natural selection is just guessing, without concrete data to back it up.  And it does make me wince to think people are blowing it off as "well, the strong survive, get used to it".

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@QueenDanceALot, I have much stronger words in reaction to his post. I'll just say that it send shivers up my spine.

[Annabellethecat66]

So I tell my daughters it's never going away, like a lot of other virus' we will learn to live with it.

Think about this....if just one person in the WORLD has the live virus, we are all susceptible to getting it.  Think about how fast it infects people.

We will either have to learn to live with some form of it or just stop living and stay in our houses forever.

If they develop a vaccine it will help somewhat; but there are people who STILL get whatever virus the vaccine was given for.  Then there are people who never get the shot and never get the virus.

It's kinda like throwing dice as to whether or not you'll die from the virus or how sick you get.

I've read and been told there are different strains of the virus.  I'm not a virologist and every minute there's something different and often conflicting about it.

I just never touch my face, especially my eyes, nose or mouth.  I'm a bit of a germaphobe anyway.

I've always used hand sanitizer when I leave a place and get into my car.  I've always gone through a lot of it.

My friend and I ate at a restaurant when they first opened inside restaurants.  We were spaced in a booth a few feet apart.  It all worked out fine.

There were other people inside spaced a long way apart from us.

[Porcelain]

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@Mmsfoxxie wrote:

@QueenDanceALot, I feel that way, too.  "Only the strong survive.  Get used to it".  Seems very mean spirited.  I do believe that there's something about some people that makes them more susceptible to Covid.  But, hey, if I'm not careful, that someone might be me....or close family.  

I just can't feel good it's only a percentage that die.  At least that's the way it looks right now.  Things can change if the virus mutates the right way.

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If that's the argument, then we don't need civilization at all. Or agreements or laws. Or hospitals. Just let the strong survive and hoard all the resources to themselves, only to be overthrown pretty soon by someone stronger.

And I can guarantee that everyone in this forum would fail the Darwin test. We would all be left to die.

[minimalistWF]

@gardenman 

This is all wishful thinking, but it's not as cut and dry as just identifying a genetic susceptibility.  That is only an option if there is a genetic reason why some people have poor outcomes.  

What we do know if these early stages of the virus is that obesity, diabetes, etc. are factors in serious or fatal outcomes.  That is not necessarily driven by genetics, but in many cases based on lifestyle choices.  Too many people have these common ailments and are not doing anything to prevent or reverse them.