Many young adults have heard the message that COVID-19 is dangerous for older people. Some have interpreted that to mean they don’t have to worry about coronavirus infection. That’s probably why you have seen photographs and videos of young adults partying on beaches, getting close in pools and congregating in bars and nightclubs. Now, these people are getting severe COVID-19 in Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama, to name just a few states where the virus is out of control.
There was a time, only a few months ago, when the people who were being hospitalized with the coronavirus were mostly over the age of 60 or 70. Now, a shocking number of cases in Arizona are in people between the ages of 20 and 44. In Florida, the median age of positive cases is 37.
New Research and Severe Covid-19 in Young Adults:
New data indicate that about a third of people between 18 and 25 are vulnerable to serious complications from the coronavirus (Journal of Adolescent Health, July 2020). Here, in the authors’ own words, are the findings:
“The findings from this analysis indicate that nearly one in three young adults are medically vulnerable to severe COVID-19 illness (32%).”
People who smoke or vape were especially susceptible to severe infection. A survey of 8,400 young people found that more than a fifth of them are smokers. People may need more than six weeks to recover from a severe case of COVID-19, which can also cause long-term damage to many organs.
Lessons Learned from the New Research:
Public health experts initially told us that younger people barely got sick from the coronavirus. They were either asymptomatic, or if they did catch the virus the symptoms were no big deal. We suspect that message gave this group of people the green light to party hardy. And they did.
Now we are learning that young adults can develop severe COVID-19. They can also spread the virus to lots of other people. We hope that this new message gets out and younger adults begin taking more prudent precautions.
