A new analysis shows which certain pre-existing diseases may put older people at risk of developing more severe COVID-19, implying they may need special treatments and more shielding.
A team based at the University of Exeter and the University of Connecticut in the U.S. found that older people with dementia were three times more likely to have severe COVID-19 than older people with no dementia. This may have been as a result of greater exposure to the virus, for example in nursing homes, or it may be caused by the dementia disease process itself.
The authors also found a higher risk of severe infection among people with pre-existing diagnoses of depression, chronic lung…
