A large-scale new pre-print study has found that a third of coronavirus patients admitted to UK hospitals die, and fewer than half of those put on ventilators survive.
The study, called ISARIC4C and led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, and Imperial College London, analyzed data from 16,749 Covid-19 patients in 166 UK hospitals between February 6 and April 18. It found that 49% were discharged, 33% died and 17% continued to receive care at date of reporting.
The study also showed that of patients put on a ventilator, 53% died, 20% were discharged, and 27% remained in the hospital.
Researchers also found that, along with underlying issues such as lung, heart and kidney disease that are already known to worsen outcomes, being male or obese were also significant factors associated with Covid-19 deaths in UK hospitals.
This could be because obese people have a reduced lung function and potentially more inflammation in the fatty tissue under the skin and around internal organs, which could contribute to a possibly life-threatening overreaction of the body’s immune system, researchers said.
Remember: The study, which was funded by the UK government, has not yet been peer-reviewed. Derek Hill, Professor of Medical Imaging, University College London (UCL), called the research “extremely impressive” but warned that it shows a “snapshot of outcomes” and that many patients who were included are still in hospital, so the mortality and survival rates are subject to change.
“This is an especially large study so it provides helpful insights into the symptoms of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital. As has been reported many times, this is not like flu in who gets seriously ill or in mortality: young children seem to have low risk and pregnant women do not have an increased risk of serious illness, and it is deadlier than flu,” Professor Hill said in a written statement released by the UK-based Science Media Centre on Wednesday.
