what are the Risk factors for COVID19

A new study published in the Journal ‘Nature’ now describes novel independent genetic risk factors for COVID19 illness.

Severe Covid-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury.

Host genetic variation influences the development of serious illness that requires critical care or hospitalisation following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from critically-ill cases with population controls in order to find underlying disease mechanisms.

The scientists used whole genome sequencing in 7,491 critically-ill COVID19 cases compared with 48,400 controls to discover 23 independent variants in genes that significantly predispose to critical Covid-19 infection.

These independent variants include genes involved in interferon signalling, leucocyte differentiation, and blood type markers.

The results described in this study are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of Covid-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: for example, failure to control viral replication, or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation.

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Link to the original study:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04576-6

Study title:
Whole genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical Covid-19

Study authors:
Athanasios Kousathanas, Erola Pairo-Castineira, Konrad Rawlik, Alex Stuckey,
Christopher A. Odhams, Susan Walker, Clark D. Russell, Tomas Malinauskas, Yang Wu,
Jonathan Millar, Xia Shen, Katherine S. Elliott, Fiona Griffiths, Wilna Oosthuyzen,
Kirstie Morrice, Sean Keating, Bo Wang, Daniel Rhodes, Lucija Klaric, Marie Zechner,
Nick Parkinson, Afshan Siddiq, Peter Goddard, Sally Donovan, David Maslove,
Alistair Nichol, Malcolm G. Semple, Tala Zainy, Fiona Maleady-Crowe, Linda Todd,
Shahla Salehi, Julian Knight, Greg Elgar, Georgia Chan, Prabhu Arumugam, Christine Patch,
Augusto Rendon, David Bentley, Clare Kingsley, Jack A. Kosmicki, Julie E. Horowitz,
Aris Baras, Goncalo R. Abecasis, Manuel A. R. Ferreira, Anne Justice, Tooraj Mirshahi,
Matthew Oetjens, Daniel J. Rader, Marylyn D. Ritchie, Anurag Verma, Tom A. Fowler,
Manu Shankar-Hari, Charlotte Summers, Charles Hinds, Peter Horby, Lowell Ling,
Danny McAuley, Hugh Montgomery, Peter J. M. Openshaw, Paul Elliott, Timothy Walsh,
Albert Tenesa, GenOMICC Investigators, 23andMe, Covid-19 Human Genetics Initiative,
Angie Fawkes, Lee Murphy, Kathy Rowan, Chris P. Ponting, Veronique Vitart, James F. Wilson, Jian Yang, Andrew D. Bretherick, Richard H. Scott, Sara Clohisey Hendry, Loukas Moutsianas, Andy Law, Mark J. Caulfield & J. Kenneth Baillie

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Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information.

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