Dr.Bonnie Henry
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Government
May 05, 2020 - 7:00 PM
It’s been clear for some time that older men are much more likely to get sicker and die from COVID-19 than women or younger people.
But, during a recent update on who is being infected with COVID-19 provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry pointed out that it also causes blood clotting that can lead to strokes, even in young people but it could be some time before we understand why.
“There are a lot of physiological things that we don’t know," she said. "We know, for example, that this virus tends to cause blood clotting so strokes, pulmonary embolisms or blockages of blood vessels in young people, even. We’ve seen that in a number of cases both here in Canada and particularly in the U.S, and in other parts around the world.”
Her update showed that, as of April 30 (the date the report was based on) 1,373 of the 2,112 confirmed COVID-19 cases in B.C. by that date had additional risk factors. Those were: being more than 50 years old or male or with at least one chronic condition.
While roughly 45 per cent in that group of 1,373 cases were males, 61 per cent of those admitted to hospital were males, 69 per cent of the admissions to ICUs were male and 72 per cent of those who died were male.
Other risk factors cited in Henry’s report are chronic conditions. Of the 1,373 cases, almost 38 per cent had at least one chronic condition. But almost 66 per cent of those admitted to hospital had such conditions and that number rose to 71 per cent in ICU and almost 84 per cent of the people who died.
The main underlying conditions included diabetes, heart disease, underlying lung disease, cancer and people who are immunosuppressed.
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