A new letter from researchers at New York University shows that obesity is a risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalization in patients under the age of 60.
The letter was published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.In other research news, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlight geographic COVID-19 differences, and Johns Hopkins experts lay out the upcoming need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.Elevated risk of hospitalizationFor the obesity study, researchers looked at 3,615 patients admitted to their hospital from Mar 4 to Apr 4.
The authors analyzed the body mass index (BMI) of the patients with confirmed COVID-19. A person with a BMI of 18 to 25 is considered normal