Coronavirus (COVID-19): If you are young...


If you are a high school or college student living in the U.S. or are otherwise delightfully young (15-24 years old), 190 of you died of COVID-19 between February and July of 2020 while 14,810 of you died overall (from COVID-19 and all other causes).  That amounts to a 0.00044% COVID-19 mortality (death) rate for all 42.97 million of you in the U.S.  Roughly, your age group accounted for a meager 0.15% of deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S.

If you are aged 25-34, 935 of you died from COVID-19 in that same time period while 30,885 of you died overall.  That amounts to a 0.002% COVID-19 mortality rate for all 45.7 million of you in the U.S.  Your age group accounted for a mere 0.72% of deaths due to COVID-19. 

If you are young, you are doing a lousy job of dying from COVID-19.  In some circles, that may justify hanging out in bars, going to large parties, hitting the nightclubs several times a week, strolling through the grocery store with ease... all without a face mask or face covering.  Sure, if you take a breath or two or three of novel coronavirus, you may have the sniffles for a day, but then you'll be back to your youthful, carefree lifestyle while all those older people are stuck at home most of the time.   

By now, you've heard the standard argument about why a carefree lifestyle in the midst of a pandemic like COVID-19 isn't such a grand plan.   With almost all of the states in the U.S. having a reproduction rate of more than 1, you and your buddy, the novel coronavirus, will on average infect more than one other person. And that one additional person or a fraction thereof could well be someone who is in a much higher mortality group.  For example, the 45-54 age bracket to which many of your parents belong, hosted 6,566 deaths from COVID-19 this year, while the 75+ age bracket that many of your grandparents belong to, hosted over 76,000 deaths in the U.S. alone.  I'm sure you've heard this argument about protecting the most vulnerable in our society by protecting yourself from COVID-19, so I won't go there.  


Instead, I'd like to talk about the more than 60% of you who are physically active.  My guess is that many of you enjoy being active.  I did when I was "young."  Now older (exact years not to be disclosed), I still enjoy being active.  And, I've found it gets increasingly difficult to continue exercising when I'm huffing and puffing rather than breathing calmly and rationally.   I try not to take my lungs for granted, but they are so cooperative most of the time, that it is easy to do.

Since COVID-19 has raged onto the national scene, I am more aware of and grateful for my two lungs doing their job tirelessly every day, whether I sleep, sit, walk, or mow the yard.  With all the emphasis on dying from COVID-19, it's easy to forget that there are other consequences from COVID-19 that we have to worry about. And those consequences don't ignore young people as often as death does. 

One of the more concerning consequences for those who survive COVID-19 is potential long term lung damage.  Unlike earlier respiratory virus outbreaks (SARS and MERS), COVID-19 causes pneumonia not in one lung but both lungs.  As the lungs fill with fluid and become inflamed, breathing becomes harder, coughing becomes more frequent, and the ability to take oxygen into the body can be dramatically hindered.   Even if the pneumonia passes, the lungs can be damaged by scar tissue and fail to heal properly, thus causing trouble breathing for months and even years after the initial disease has passed.  Physical activity becomes harder, daily life becomes more difficult.  Quality of life declines, well beyond a week or two of being sick with sniffles or flu-like symptoms.


If SARS or MERS is a preview for COVID-19, about a third of people who recover from a severe case of COVID-19 will have permanent lung damage.  And, surprisingly, a recent study has shown that young people who smoke can be even more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 than older people with diabetes or obesity.   1 in 3 young people are vulnerable to a severe case of COVID-19 if infected with the novel coronavirus.   And, recent data show that the number of young people with severe COVID-19 (severe enough to be hospitalized) has increased by almost 300% since April, from 8.7 per 100,000 of those aged 18-29 to 34.7 per 100,000.  During that same time period, hospitalizations for older adults have increased by 139%.

What's the bottom line?
If you smoke, are young, are physically active, and want to stay that way, be as cautious as your parents and grandparents when it comes to the novel coronavirus.   Avoid large gatherings, always wear a mask when around others outside your household, socially distance wherever possible, wash your hands, and follow state and CDC guidelines for staying safe. Even if you don't smoke, following the same precautions isn't a bad idea.

And finally, if you smoke, this would be an awesome time to quit!



   Let's stay safe and beat this thing... 


About the Author:
Denise Wilson is managing director for Coming Alongside Environmental Services and also serves as a faculty member in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington.  

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics.  Available at:  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Exercise or Physical Activity.  Available at:  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm

Cox, David (2020).  Some patients who survive COVID-19 may suffer lasting lung damage. Available at:  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-some-patients-may-suffer-lasting-lung-damage

Leigh, Suzanne.  (2020). 1 in 3 Young Adults May Face Severe COVID-19, UCSF Study Shows.  Available at:  https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/07/418081/1-3-young-adults-may-face-severe-covid-19-ucsf-study-shows


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