Coronaviruses Hit Older Adults the Hardest

Findings from Britain- and China-based researchers suggest seniors will suffer more deaths from the new coronavirus than others, reports Quartz . Forty-one fatalities attributed to the pathogen included 39 people who were older than 50. This not only highlights the need for effective treatments for older adults, but also warns that future pandemics could carry an even higher death toll than before as the over-50 population increases worldwide. Seniors are more vulnerable to infections because they are more likely to have other chronic health conditions that make fighting new pathogens even more difficult. Another contributor is the immune system's decreasing ability to defend against coronaviruses with age. Research indicates that coronaviruses appear to encourage older immune systems to incur extra inflammation, which can have a cascading effect. The researchers also warn that as people increasingly infringe into animal territory through farming, urbanization, and deforestation, the more likely it is that a pathogen present in animals will eventually jump to humans.