Comorbid diseases impact on Covid-19 infection

Agnė Matulevičiūtė1, Simona Nikolaičiukaitė1, Gerda Želvytė1

1Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

Abstract

The first coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China and has become so far the one of the biggest health systems problems. Patients with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases and other chronic conditions have increased risk of becoming infected with coronavirus. In addition, these people are more likely to develop life threatening complications such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome or multiple organ failure. It has been observed that chronic diseases may cause immune system dysfunction and abnormal cytokine production or altered expression of ACEII receptors in various organs. However, more detailed studies is needed to find out precise mechanisms leading to higher mortality of patients with underlying diseases. In order to manage coronavirus outbreak successfully it is essential to control the spread of coronavirus and follow all safety recommendations.  Patients with comorbid conditions should be vaccinated first against the SARS-Cov-2 virus in order protect the most susceptible people.

Keywords: COVID‐19, SARS‐CoV‐2, underlying diseases, comorbidity, comorbidities, asthma, COPD, cardiovascular diseases, HIV, AIDS.