From todays ProMed daily report (I edited out about 75% and just left the prologue and findings summary)
[4] Obesity as risk factor for severe disease
Date: Fri 10 Apr 2020
Source: Clinical Infectious Diseases [edited]
<https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa415/5818333>
ref: Lighter J, Phillips M, Hochman S, et al. Obesity in patients
younger than 60 years is a risk factor for COVID-19 hospital
admission. Clin Infect Dis. 2020. pii: ciaa415. doi:
10.1093/cid/ciaa415. [Epub ahead of print]
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Letter to the Editor:
Risk factors for infectious disease severity are determined by the
pathogen, host and environment [1]. COVID-19 disease, caused by
SARS-CoV-2 infection includes a spectrum of illness; from asymptomatic
infection [2] to severe pneumonia characterized by acute respiratory
injury in about 20% of patients presenting to medical care [3]. The
risk factors associated with disease severity, included increased age,
diabetes, immune suppression and organ failure [3]. Recognition of
risk factors for morbidity and mortality is important to determine
prevention strategies as well as to target high-risk populations for
potential therapeutics.
Though patients younger than 60 years are generally considered a lower
risk group of COVID-19 disease severity, based on data from our
institution, obesity appears to be a previously unrecognized risk
factor for hospital admission and need for critical care. This has
important and practical implications, where nearly 40% of adults in
the US are obese with a BMI equal to or greater than 30 [4]. The BMI
range of individuals in this study appears representative of the
nation, as 36% of the patients have a BMI of 30 or higher. There is
geographic variation in reported mortality, as South Korea, China, and
Italy report case fatality rates of 0.8, 2.3, and 7.2, respectively
[5] and regional risk factors such as prevalence of smoking,
pollution, or aging population has been cited. Unfortunately, obesity
in people younger than 60 years is a newly identified epidemiologic
risk factor which may contribute to increased morbidity rates
experienced in the US.
[References and table available at the source URL above]