What factors increase the risk of dying from COVID-19?

Several factors can influence the risk of death from coronavirus infection, according to Anch Baranov, Ph.D., professor at the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University.

According to Ria.ru, the risk of death is increased in smoking patients with COVID-19. The biologist also talked about a study by scientists who discovered three genes that affect the severity of the course of the coronavirus. These include the MAPT, PIGN and CCR5 genes - they can help in the development of drugs to fight infection, the specialist said.

“Hospital infections can also aggravate the situation. If they are antibiotic-resistant, it will take time to find effective antibiotics. And a person's condition at this time can deteriorate sharply, which will provoke a fatal ending,” Baranova said.

According to her, sometimes doctors can predict the severity of the course of the disease using the results of patients' blood tests. If COVID-19 patients have C-reactive protein levels 70 times higher than acceptable values, this may indicate a high risk of death from COVID-19.