COVID-19 Impact Risk Assessment

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) is a respiratory infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) originating in Wuhan China in 2019. Regardless of the infection risk, the impact of it has been different on different groups of people. For instance, the disease is notably severe in elderly and those with underlying chronic conditions. Despite a handful of studies conducted so far, a molecular mechanism that explains why the elderly are vulnerable and why children are resistant is largely unknown. However, a number of published studies have linked the inheritance of one or two copies of ApoE4  gene to the severity of COVID-19 signs and symptoms. Based on these studies, individuals with Apo E 4/4 have around 2.5 fold higher chance of developing severe COVID19 symptoms.