In the early weeks of the pandemic, as patients overwhelmed New York City hospitals, the clinical characteristics of the most vulnerable quickly became apparent: many of the sickest people were older or had "co-morbidities" like diabetes, hypertension, or respiratory conditions.
As weeks became months and the symptom spectrum widened and worsened, researchers began to focus on "host risk factors" to explain the increasingly apparent variability in the COVID-19 experience. According to Jack Kosmicki, PhD, of Regeneron Genetics Center, at the recent American Society of Human Genetics virtual annual meeting:
"Genetics is one avenue to better understand why outcomes of COVID are so different. Some patients have so few symptoms that they don't realize they're infected, yet the other end of the extreme is requiring hospitalization, or death. Genetic risk factors might influence the likelihood of becoming infected or requiring hospitalization."
So far, very few genes have been linked to COVID-19. Other factors like socioeconomic status, exposure to the virus in the workplace or in crowded housing conditions, being of Black or Asian ancestry and non-genetic pre-existing conditions are more important.
To continue reading, please go to Genetic Literacy Project, where this post first appeared.