A recent study indicates that four in ten COVID patients between age 19 and 49 developed complications with their kidneys, lungs or other organs while being treated.
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Complications arise
The research was conducted on 73,197 adults of all ages across 302 UK hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
Prof Calum Semple, who led the research said:
The message is that this is not just a disease of the elderly and frail.
The data reinforces the fact that COVID is not the flu and we are seeing even young adults coming into hospital suffering significant complications, some of which will require further monitoring and potentially further treatment in the future.
The study conducted by researchers at seven UK universities, the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England, examined the number of 'complications' in those needing hospital treatment for COVID-19, defining it as an organ-specific medical diagnosis.
Kidney, lung & heart damage
In summary, around half of all adult patients suffered at least one complication during their hospital stay. The most common was a kidney injury, followed by lung and heart damage.
The highest rates were in those over 50 years old, with 51% reporting at least one problem, but they were also ‘very common’ in younger age groups. Some 37% of 30 to 39 year olds and 44% of 40 to 49 year olds had at least one complication recorded by nurses and medical students involved in the study.
Doctors are not yet sure how a severe COVID infection can cause organ damage, but it is believed that in some cases the body's own immune system can spark an inflammatory response and injure healthy tissue.
Age is the single biggest factor in determining a severe COVID infection.
Out of 406,687 people taken to hospital with the disease in England since the start of the pandemic, 62% were over the age of 65.
That leaves another 155,866 under the age of 65 who have needed hospital treatment since February 2020.
Higher vaccination rates in the elderly and vulnerable population mean that the average age of those hospitalised with the disease has been falling.
