Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Patients With Other Conditions Hospitalized at Higher Rates
“Patients in the U.S. with underlying health conditions are likely to be at higher risk of severe disease from the new coronavirus, according to data from the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, which aligns with findings in countries such as Italy and China. A CDC report published Tuesday found that higher proportions of U.S. patients with underlying conditions including diabetes, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease were hospitalized compared with those without additional afflictions. But a small proportion of people without other reported health conditions still had severe-enough coronavirus infections to require intensive care, the report found. The report is preliminary, and the agency cautioned that the analysis has several limitations, including small numbers, missing patient information, a lack of long-term follow-up and a likely bias toward more serious outcomes, because testing in the U.S. has been limited to those with more severe infections…” (Abbott, 3/31).

Additional coverage of the study is available from The Hill, NPR, and Washington Post.