Following a brief lull, the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, is again surging across the world. Not only are the US and several European nations recording a rise in the number of cases, but South Africa has also reported a new variant, dubbed as Omicron, which has sent the world into a state of frenzy. Omicron, designated as a ‘variant of concern’ (VOC) by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has made inroads in over 35 countries, prompting several nations to impose a ban on travel from high-risk nations. So at a time, there is a renewed risk of contracting COVID-19, there is a need to know its risk factors. And a large-scale study conducted in the United Kingdom has done just that.
In the study that involved over 15,000 participants, an unexpected finding was that those with asthma and allergies were found to be at a lesser risk of COVID infection. This is an unexpected finding as earlier there was a concern regarding the effect of COVID-19, which is a respiratory illness, on those already suffering from other illnesses that concern the respiratory system, and asthma is one such disease. The study also found that Asians and Asian British were at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 as compared to people of other ethnicities who were part of the study.
About The Study
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The study, which made these findings, was conducted in the United Kingdom with researchers from across the country.
- As many as 15,227 participants were studied in the period spanning from May 2020 till February 2021.
- During this time, the researchers collected details on the possible symptoms of COVID-19 and the results of any COVID tests that the participants undertook.
- During the study, 446 participants tested positive for COVID-19, who comprised 3% of the total participants.
- Details were also collected on possible risk factors such as weight, height, lifestyle, diet, supplement use, medication, any underlying health issue, etc.
The findings were published in the journal Thorax.
What Did The Study Find Out?
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The researchers studied risk factors for both developing COVID as well as getting serious illness. Here’s what the study found out:
- High BMI (body mass index) and Asian and Asian British ethnicities were found to be risk factors for severe COVID infection.
- One of the significant findings was that atopic conditions were linked with a lower risk of getting infected. Atopic refers to an issue with a person’s immune system that makes him/her more susceptible to getting allergic diseases. Atopic conditions include allergies, asthma, hay fever, eczema, etc.
- Other factors that increased the risk of getting COVID-19 included:
- Household crowding
- Visiting other households
- Visiting indoor public spaces
- Frontline jobs such as that in health or social care services
- The risk factors for getting infected with COVID-19 hardly overlapped with getting a severe infection, the study found.
- No link was found between age, gender, medical condition, and diet with an increased risk of getting infected.
What Did The Researcher Say?
This is what the researchers who were part of the study said:
- Prof Adrian Martineau, the lead author of the study, told a leading health website that they “did not anticipate” that people with conditions such as asthma and allergies would be found to be at a lesser risk of COVID. In fact, at the start of the pandemic, there was a concern that those suffering from these ailments would be at a higher risk of COVID.
- Also, the higher susceptibility of people of Asian origin was not found to be linked to occupational, socioeconomic, or co-morbidity factors. Terming this as an “important finding,” Prof Martineau underlined the need for further research into the susceptibility to COVID concerning ethnic differences.
Despite the startling findings the study made, it has many limitations. One is it didn’t depend on swab testing, but on regular screening, which is highly driven by symptoms. Thus, there is a considerable chance many symptomless cases slipped past the observation. Another limitation is the disproportionate representation of ethnicities. Hence, the ethnicity factor in COVID susceptibility might also have been underrepresented.
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