NEW DELHI: Covid-19 may be particularly harsh and deadly for the elderly and those with co-morbidities, considered high-risk for the severe form of infection, but the disease is not sparing even many younger ones.
An analysis of the figures released by the Centre on Thursday showed that 103 under 30 — including 17 kids who are less than 15 years of age — have succumbed to the infection, that targets vital organs such as lung, kidney, and heart, in the country so far.
The disease had claimed 3,435 lives in the country till Thursday morning, 50.5 per cent of whom were those above 60. The overall mortality rate due to the disease in India is little over 3 per cent, while the global average is 6.65 per cent.
The figures for India suggest that nearly 1,700 of those who have died due to Covid-19 were less than 60.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shared the break of up mortality rates across age groups. When converted in absolute numbers, the statistics suggested that nearly 85 people aged 15-30, 392 aged 30-45, 1205 aged 45-60, and 1734 above 60 years have died.
Also of those succumbed, more than 2,500 had some co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory or kidney disease, or any other illnesses.
A total of 2,198 of all dead patients were male, the data also showed.
Commenting on the mortality pattern in India, experts pointed out that while the disease outcome can be worse in older people with co-morbidities even younger ones who are immuno-compromised can be vulnerable.
“I have not seen any critical patient under 55 due to Covid-19 infection so far but experience and understanding worldwide show that the disease poses a far bigger challenge for those above 60 and those who have concomitant illnesses while the young seem to be faring far better,” said Dr. Raymond Savio, a critical care specialist in Chennai.
Dr. Shikha Panwar, another critical care specialist in Faridabad in the national capital region said that one group susceptible to the disease-thought less vulnerable earlier-- is neonates or infants under 1.
“That’s because they hardly have any immunity against any pathogens,” she explained. “Children above 2 on the other hand are faring better in tackling the infection because of many cross infections they are exposed to. But the age group that seems to be doing the best in terms of tackling the virus seems to be 8-20 years according to global data."
As per publicly available information, a 20-day old infant in Jaipur, who died due to Covid 19 complications earlier this month, was reported to be the youngest victim of the disease in the country so far.
A little earlier, a 45 day old baby in the capital too had died due to Covid-19. In both cases, it was not ascertained whether the newborns had pre-existing conditions that made them more susceptible to the disease.