Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland.
We often hear that people with "underlying conditions" are more likely to suffer a serious case of COVID-19 if they get infected. But what are those underlying conditions? They're some of the most common health issues facing Americans.
At a news conference Wednesday, Maricopa County infectious disease specialist Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine said about 60% of the coronavirus patients who end up in the hospital there have at least one of the most common underlying conditions.
"About a third of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 have high blood pressure. This is followed by diabetes — where one in four hospitalized patients report this condition — and by cardiac disease or heart disease reported by one in five patients," Sunenshine said.
Other conditions that contribute to hospitalization include chronic disease of the kidneys, lungs or liver.
It's not clear whether the same holds true in Pima County, but Sunenshine said Maricopa County's numbers match those reported by officials in China, which saw more than 80,000 cases of COVID-19.
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