People with chronic lung disease are the group with underlying diseases that have the greatest risk of dying in covid-19 in intensive care units in Sweden. It shows a yet unpublished study.
Men in old age have the highest risk of dying. But when it comes to underlying diseases, those with lung disease have the greatest risk of dying from IVA.
– I was incredibly surprised, because you have heard from other studies that other risk factors were so incredibly important, says Michelle Chew, professor of intensive care at Linköping University Hospital, who is the main author of the study.
It’s about it this time not about those with high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity or diabetes. Instead, it is about people with chronic lung disease, including COPD, who have the greatest risk of dying in covid-19 when they have become so ill that they end up in the intensive care unit, IVA.
The study describes the situation for the more than 1,500 patients who were admitted in the first two months during the pandemic, from March 6 to May 6, in intensive care units in Sweden. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal and thus not reviewed in the usual way.
Of the three people as Vetenskapsradion has asked to comment on the study, Jonas Åkesson, professor of intensive care at Lund University, is one of them. He is also surprised by the result, but notes that other people who belong to risk groups should also remain cautious.
– My firm opinion is still that people with more severe forms of chronic diseases should be careful in corona times, says Professor Jonas Åkesson.
Because even if it here the study has not shown that other risk groups have an equally high risk of dying at IVA, nor has it disproved that risk.
State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell is one of the co-authors of the study, and comments on the situation of those with chronic lung disease.
– Above all, it is a sign that it is an important risk group that we need to protect so that they do not end up in IVA, says co-author and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
Among other things, he spent the holidays helping with information for this study.
Source: ICELAND NEWS