hough it’s been five months since the coronavirus pandemic set in, claiming over 3.52 lakh lives worldwide, new lessons are still being learned every day on how to tackle the virus.
Here are some of the recent research findings around Covid-19.
Dementia gene linked to increased risk of severe Covid-19
A faulty gene associated with dementia may double the risk of developing severe Covid-19 infection, a large scale study from the UK has found.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Connecticut found high risk of severe Covid-19 infection among participants with European ancestry who carry two faulty copies of the APOE gene (termed e4e4).
According to the team, one in 36 people of European ancestry have two faulty copies of this gene. This faulty gene is also known to increase risks of Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease.
The team had previously found that people with dementia are three times more likely to get a severe infection. Part of the increased risk effect may have been due to exposure to the high prevalence of the virus in care homes.
However, the study, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, indicates the APOE e4e4 genotype doubled the risk of developing severe Covid-19, when compared to the common e3e3 form of the APOE gene.
