The latest data from the German "Robert Koch" Institute for Combating Infectious and Non-communicable Diseases showed that 18% of those infected with the emerging coronavirus in Germany showed severe symptoms of the disease that required their hospitalization.
It is known that the risk of exposure to severe pathways in the disease increases clearly for the age group starting from 50 or 60 years.
According to the institute’s data, 86% of deaths due to HIV infection were 70 years of age or older.
Because of the decreased immune system response, the elderly may experience severe symptoms of infection.
The Central Institute for Health Insurance ranks patients over 80 years old with one disease and patients between 60 and 79 years old with at least three diseases as "high risk".
The risk increases for respiratory patients, especially those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
"The current data indicates that patients with COPD have a high risk of developing severe symptoms with Covid-19," said Mark Lumatsch, a spokesman for the German Council for the Control of Lung Diseases.
The German Lung Association believes that smoking is also a risk factor, even if the data currently available on this matter are weak.
In contrast, Lomatsch said that patients with asthma who are receiving good treatment are not at high risk of developing severe pathways from the emerging coronavirus.
The risk of severe disease pathways increases among patients with heart disease, obese and diabetic patients.
In contrast, Professor at the University of Tübingen, Baptiste Galvitz, demanded that diabetes patients in general should not be classified as high-risk, explaining that their risk varies according to age and previous diseases.