Older adults may bear most of the burden if coronavirus spreads

As the world faces the coronavirus threat, public health officials and experts are working to help stop its spread and protect the public. While experts are learning more about how the disease can affect the public, there is one certainty: The older population remains at a higher risk for serious illness.

At Life Care, a skilled nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington, four people have died and four more are sick, including a health care worker. State health officials are also closely monitoring other residents of the nursing facility, where 104 people live.

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Those older than 75 are generally more susceptible to both bacterial and viral illnesses. The older adult is particularly vulnerable to viruses, as it takes a strong immune system to fight viral illness in which antibiotics are useless. As we age, the thymus and bone marrow produce less of the vital B and T cells, which are key players in the immune system.

Data from China indicates that the oldest of those affected were more likely to be hospitalized during the recent outbreak, and the oldest of the old were less likely to survive the severe respiratory illness that results from the infection.

According to the epidemiological reports from more than 72,000 Chinese patients, the overall case fatality rate was estimated to be 2.3%, while those between age 70 and 79 had a case fatality rate of 8%. For those over 80, almost 15% did not survive. (These figures are from the start of the outbreak through Feb. 11.)