Catching the Coronavirus: Who Is More at Risk of Severe Illness?

3. Individuals with lung disease

People with chronic respiratory disease have been more vulnerable to this virus: In China, 6.3 percent of people who had an underlying respiratory condition died from the infection.

The new coronavirus seems to focus on the structures and tissues that are involved with breathing. Complications include “not only developing severe pneumonia, but ARDS [acute respiratory distress syndrome], which prevents lung tissue from being adequately oxygenated,” says Dr. Glatter.

Lung diseases that have a higher risk of COVID-19 complications include asthma and COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes both chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

“Asthma is definitely a risk,” says Dr. Long. “Asthmatics tend to have a slight impairment of lung function even when they’re not symptomatic. On top of that, for a lot of asthmatics, any sort of respiratory infection is a trigger for airway inflammation and for basically inducing an asthma attack.”