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3 Factors That Put Trump at High Risk for Severe Covid-19 Outcomes
Age, gender and obesity don’t predict any given outcome, but they raise the risk
Based on the science and statistics, President Donald Trump is at higher risk of severe outcomes from Covid-19 because he is older, male and obese. While none of these three factors predict the course of the disease in any given person — even centenarians have survived Covid and people of all ages have survived the disease with mild symptoms — here’s what we know about the relative prospects of a typical patient in this situation.
Trump, said to be experiencing mild cold-like symptoms Friday, is 74 years old. Though people of all ages are at risk of severe outcomes and death, about 79% of U.S. Covid-19 deaths are among people 65 and older, and 22% are ages 65 to 74.
Put another way, people ages 65 to 74 are 28 times more likely to die from Covid-19 as people ages 25 to 34.
The risk grows with age in part because the human immune system weakens as we get older. Our immune system has two primary aspects: innate and adaptive. The innate system involves cells that work generally to destroy invading pathogens but is not ideal for any specific germ. The adaptive immune system, which creates disease-fighting proteins called…
