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Covid-19: Diabetes, hypertension common comorbidities in patients, says Health ministry

Age-wise distribution of patient data analysed till Monday showed nearly 63% of the positive cases were either 40 years of age, or below, and just about 10% positive cases were above 60 years of age

Updated on: Sep 22, 2020, 09:07:19 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
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Hypertension and diabetes are the most common comorbidities found in Coronavirus (Covid-19) patients, with 5.74% and 5.20% of the patients analysed as part of the Union health ministry’s disease surveillance initiative suffering from these two medical conditions respectively.

Army Institute of Cardio Thoracic Sciences (AICTS), Army Covid -19 hospital in Pune that undertakes critical Covid -19 care. (PTI)
Army Institute of Cardio Thoracic Sciences (AICTS), Army Covid -19 hospital in Pune that undertakes critical Covid -19 care. (PTI)

About 76% of those infected had comorbidities, and conditions that have been commonly observed in Covid-19 patients include hypertension, diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, asthma, chronic renal disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), low immunity, malignancy, bronchitis and chronic neuromuscular disease among others.

Also read: UK raises Covid-19 alert to second highest level

Age-wise distribution of patient data analysed till Monday showed nearly 63% of the positive cases were either 40 years of age, or below, and just about 10% positive cases were above 60 years of age.

Men made up for 68.48%, and women 31.51% of the total case load.

The findings about the age-wise distribution of infections and deaths in India appear to be in line with what scientists have observed about the global trends of the disease — it disproportionally infects younger people, while it severely affects those who are older.

Breathlessness was observed in 5.11% of the cases.

Government’s data shows India’s patient recovery graph is also going up steadily as nearly one in four Covid-19 cases are healthy individuals with no known comorbidities, leading to a better chances of recovery.

At least 90,000 Covid-19 patients have been cured and discharged from home or facility isolation and hospitals every single day for three consecutive days.

“This high rate of daily recoveries has positioned India as the top country globally with maximum number of recovered cases. This has also pushed the recovery rate to a high of more than 80%,” the health ministry tweeted on Tuesday morning.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rhythma Kaul

Rhythma Kaul is the national health editor of the Hindustan Times. She has been reporting on public health, medicine, and medical research, with a particular focus on how government decisions and health system reforms shape people’s lives. Rhythma has over 25 years of journalistic experience. She joined Hindustan Times in 2008, and has since covered everything from pandemics and infectious diseases to cutting‑edge medical research and climate‑related health challenges. Her stories routinely track the work of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, department of pharmaceuticals, and key national health programmes, making complex medical science and policy accessible to a wide audience. One of her prominent news breaks has been the 2012 Baby Falak case: A two-year-old brutally battered baby girl was admitted to AIIMS-Delhi with severe head injuries, multiple fractures, human bite marks, and burns. The police investigation revealed this to be a case of multi-state human-trafficking racket. She was profiled by The Wall Street Journal for breaking this story. Rhythma holds a Master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Prior to Hindustan Times, she worked with the India Today Group. Rhythma can be contacted at rhythma.kaul@hindustantimes.com. Her X handle is @RamblingBrook.

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