Young men could be another high-risk group for COVID-19

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Young men could be silent drivers of COVID-19, according to US researchers. The team looked at disease and testing rates in various age groups and found those above 80 and under 20 were getting tested most often, with the infection rate seemingly highest in over-80s. However after adjusting the data for how frequently these age groups were being tested compared to how frequently they were testing positive, the team found infection rates were lowest in children and adults over 70 and markedly higher in men aged 20 to 49. We know that the elderly and immunocompromised are high-risk groups for COVID-19, but the data suggests young men should be added as a high-risk group too.

Journal/conference: Annals of Internal Medicine

Link to research (DOI): 10.7326/M20-7003

Organisation/s: University of Toronto, Canada

Funder: This research was supported by a grant to Dr. Fisman from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2019 COVID-19 rapid research funding OV4-170360).

Media release

From: American College of Physicians

Younger males at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection than previously recognized
A population-based cohort study found that after adjusting for testing frequency by age group, younger males may be an underrecognized group at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Previously, the pandemic has been characterized by higher observed incidence in older persons and lower incidence in children and adolescents. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto studied data from a provincial Ontario health database to determine whether differential testing by age group would explain observed variation in incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The researchers found that disease incidence and testing rates were highest in the oldest age group and markedly lower in those younger than 20 years, regardless of sex. After adjustment for testing frequency, infection rates were lowest in children and in adults aged 70 years or older and markedly higher in adolescents and in males aged 20 to 49 years compared with the overall population.

According to the researchers, these findings are important because they suggest that younger males may be silent drivers of virulent SARS-CoV-2 infection in older adults.

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