DOM COVID-19 Journal Club: Protecting workers aged 60-69 years from COVID-19

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This is a brief Letter to the Editor of Lancet Infectious Diseases that examines the possible death rate in the UK, based on patient age. The point of this letter is that general instructions were promoted in the UK that all citizens over the age of 70 should be very carefully quarantined as they represent a vulnerable population, who would likely fare poorly if infected with COVID. Using estimates from the Chinese experience, although 70% of COVID related deaths would likely occur in patients over 70, of the remaining 30%, two thirds of those deaths would occur in patients between the ages of 60 and 69. The author opines that perhaps people in this age group should refrain from jobs that put them in close contact with potential COVID patients.

Current US data from the CDC COVID weekly update supports this conclusion in part. The overall hospitalization rate for the entire country is 29.2 per 100,000 but is 95.5/100,000 in people over age 65 versus 47/2/100,000 in those 50-64. It is reasonable that heath care workers over the age of 60 be especially vigilant about use of PPE, as well as avoiding potential exposures during aerosolizing procedures if possible. For those older citizens with other comorbidities working in essential jobs may also need to consider extent of contact and utilize PPE as well.

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The Department of Medicine COVID-19 Journal Club is dedicated to understand and applying data on COVID-19 to inform prevention and management efforts for healthcare workers and patients.

This article by Natalie Callander, MD, professor (CHS), Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care.

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