Serious Covid illness in younger people with no serious underlying conditions

[Bettydot]

Recently in video and news paper reports in the mainstream media I’ve noticed more of a mention of younger people in their 20s, 30s and 40s being seriously ill in hospital and ICUs with covid. There seems to have been more of a mention of this during this wave compared to previously. I’m aware that the new strain is only thought to be more infectious and that there have always been some younger people who are severely effected however I’ve noticed that the number of younger people who are getting seriously ill with Covid has been flagged up with more frequency recently. Does anyone know if there has been a rise in younger people being seriously effected and if so why or if this nothing has changed and it’s more of a case of making sure that people are aware that no one is immune to serious illness?

Oh for god’s sake how bloody small-minded. People are not obese out of choice, it’s way more psychologically complicated than “they’ve had all these months to stop being obese.”

Obesity is clearly a triggering topic but facts are facts and regardless of reasons for obesity it's a factor in Covid recovery.

@Zandathepanda

Previously healthy Dd (15 at the time) had encephalitis from an unknown virus a year ago. It was touch and go when we found her. Weeks in hospital. She is on lots of medication and still has regular seizures. Possibly could have been Covid because she was negative for all the usual virus suspects but doctors say it can’t ruled in/out for sure and it was an unusual case. There will be a % of young people who will not respond well to the virus. So the higher the numbers the more you’ll hear of these cases.

That must have been horrendous ❤️

@Jessuk86 thank you for asking your sister. That’s interesting, it’s scary how random it can be. I was interested in the weight issue as I’ve got another stone to loose before my bmi is back in the healthy range but I’ve worked hard to loose a couple of stone since March as I’m aware this is an additional risk. I think, as many people have said obesity is a complex issue that has many underlying psychological issues and it also takes time to loose weight. If weight loss was easy the diet industry wouldn’t be such a money maker.

Thanks to everyone who is working on the frontline who has taken the time to tell me what your hospitals are like. I hope all of you who are doing ok and stay well, you’re all amazing. I’m taking it all very seriously and I’m lucky as our household can all stay at home so that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.

Ah, another thread where people can heave a silent.... 'phew at least it's not likely to be me', when they see the phrase 'underlying conditions' or they see a picture of someone larger than themselves.

One of the shittier sides of human nature that seems to have emerged during the Covid age.

Imagine people were as forthright about obesity as they were about masks - we'd be looking at very different numbers and hospitalisations now

A brave thing to post on MN, hamstersarse, though I don't think you're mistaken

I really think the best thing to do is always look at the data and stats. They give us the best indicator of who is going to hospital with Covid. There will always be anecdotes and stories and while they may be true too and I’m not meaning to denigrate them at all, they are also only one person’s experience/knowledge.

Here is today’s report from ONS. It shows that again the rates of hospitalisation for people aged up to 45 is extremely low (about 5/100,000 I think) compared to people aged 65 and above:

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19weeklyinsights/latesthealthindicatorsinengland8january2021

Unfortunately this doesn’t also tell us about people’s health conditions but is a good indicator on the age side of things.

Hope this is helpful

And yes as OP said, thank you so much to all the amazing people out there working to take care of people sick with this virus. Wish there was more we could do but we are doing our bit by staying home (didn’t stop us from catching covid though, but thankfully no one needed to go to hospital!!) 💐

@HazeyJaneII

Ah, another thread where people can heave a silent.... 'phew at least it's not likely to be me', when they see the phrase 'underlying conditions' or they see a picture of someone larger than themselves.

One of the shittier sides of human nature that seems to have emerged during the Covid age.

Don’t you think that’s normal?? Do you see cases and think it wish that were me’ Being glad it’s not you and happy it’s other people are two separate things. I wish it were no one.

@LeFluffyPants

I really think the best thing to do is always look at the data and stats. They give us the best indicator of who is going to hospital with Covid. There will always be anecdotes and stories and while they may be true too and I’m not meaning to denigrate them at all, they are also only one person’s experience/knowledge.

Here is today’s report from ONS. It shows that again the rates of hospitalisation for people aged up to 45 is extremely low (about 5/100,000 I think) compared to people aged 65 and above:

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19weeklyinsights/latesthealthindicatorsinengland8january2021

Unfortunately this doesn’t also tell us about people’s health conditions but is a good indicator on the age side of things.

Hope this is helpful

I found your post useful, thank you

@LeFluffyPants thank you for the link to the stats I hadn’t realised the hospital admissions rate was broken down into age groups. I always like to work from data and stats as well listening to first hand accounts too. I feel quite anxious about the current situation so it’s good to be able to get a proper sense of perspective in terms of the actual risk. Though of course I’m very conscious that none of us are immune to serious illness and I’m very aware that there are a significant number of people suffering from long covid who were never hospitalised. It’s such a horrible time, I just hope that things will begin to improve this year as, as much as I’ve asked about serious covid in younger people it’s also not ok that elderly people and those people with underlying health conditions are dying either.

You are welcome and welldone with your weight loss 🙂 must have been tough this year, I’ve gained weight due to the change in lifestyle lockdown bought but now starting 2021 being as healthy as I can food wise it’s hard work though!

Sounds like you are being sensible and I’m sure you will avoid it. The positives are the vaccine rollout seems to be going well so hopefully we’ll be out of this mess soon x

@Jessuk86 aw thank you. I’d already started loosing weight just before Covid hit, it’s not been an easy year to do it but it’s good to feel healthier. I’ve focused on health and eating nutritious food and the weight has slowly shifted.

I’m so relieved we have the vaccination, I really hope it’ll start to make a difference soon and we can begin to see friends and family again. I’m glad your sister has had the vaccination and I hope she’s coping ok x

@Hamstertrousers

Oh for god’s sake how bloody small-minded. People are not obese out of choice, it’s way more psychologically complicated than “they’ve had all these months to stop being obese.”

'Swimming 80 lengths of a swimming pool every morning and swimming 10 miles down Lake Windermere is pretty fit. Did you just look at his photo and write him off as overweight?

By the way, what percentage of the population under 50 do you think is overweight?'

Yes I did look at his photo, he his overweight, very overweight. People need to wake up. He's not fit by any stretch of the imagination.

www.statista.com/statistics/375886/adult-s-body-mass-index-by-gender-and-age-in-england/

Every time there's a discussion about weight, people yell depression.
What's the alternative, gasping for breathe in a bed.
Bankrupting the economy.
www.channel4.com/programmes/lose-a-stone-in-21-days-with-michael-mosley/episode-guide/
These people don't look particularly unhealthy by modern standards but they're killing themselves with their diets.

People are in denial. It's heart-breaking, the choices are stark.

Time for tough love.
smartaboutsugar.co.uk/metabo-law-in-japan/
'The key thing about chronic disease is that medicine has no cure for it. None, nada, zip, zilch. All that modern medicine can do is give drugs to slow the progress of the disease. You take these drugs and pay for them for life. Or rather, the people working and funding the health service of the country you are living in, pay for your drugs for life.
Japan doesn’t have an obesity problem – not yet. Something like 3.5% of people fall into the obese category'.
Compare the other Asian countries to ours it's obvious what the issue is, yet the population is oblivious and blaming Boris, or babbling on about mental health.

Since mid December, 18-64 year olds have become a larger share of hospital admissions.
mobile.twitter.com/Mike_aka_Logiqx/status/1346898507978911745

There is no evidence of rising deaths among younger age groups in recent weeks (as the new variant became more prevalent).
mobile.twitter.com/ActuaryByDay/status/1346785908809474049

Age distribution for ICU from most recent ICNARC report attached. (Over 40% of ICU admissions are under 60).

Age breakdown heatmaps for hospital admissions and icu admissions up to 03 January, via:
mobile.twitter.com/Dr_D_Robertson/status/1347202807179390984

@Bettydot

Thank you for your replies. I hadn’t seen any data showing that younger people are now more susceptible to serious illness. I just don’t remember hearing so much about younger people in the first peak. I’d also assumed that it was possibly due to a relative increase in numbers due to the extremely high numbers. I also wonder if younger people have now been able to access hospital treatment when in the first wave they would have been left at home, despite being very unwell as we now know more about the importance of intervention. It’s reassuring that there doesn’t seem to be a change, though still concerning never the less that it’s so random in the way it effects people.

I would imagine that it's only a matter of time. The prevalence of the new variant is far higher in younger people and children, so inevitably with larger numbers suffering there is bound to be an increase in the number of these groups needing hospitalisation. Whether this will increase disproportionately or more ot only time will tell.

@Hrpuffnstuff1 I agree that obesity is a huge problem and that the current situation is a massive wake up call. It’s the oversimplification of weight issues though that makes it so difficult for people to successfully tackle obesity. Obesity is often like an addiction and if it was more commonly treated in this way and the underlying issues and appropriate psychological issues were addressed alongside dietary advice and programmes there would be far fewer obese people. Personally I’ve yo-yo dieted for a long time and it’s only more recently when I’ve focused on my health and providing my body with nutritious foods alongside really tackling my mindset and relationship with food and my body that I’ve been able to start to make the sustainable and long lasting changes that are needed not only to loose weight but to keep it off. Shahroo Izadi is a psychologist who specialised in addiction therapy has written lots of articles on this topic that may give you a better insight into the issues and why weight loss isn’t as simple as you may assume. You are right obesity is a massive issue and brings with it so many additional health issues but the oversimplification of the issues behind it and how it is best tackled is one of the biggest barriers to reducing it.

@CoffeeandCroissant thank you for the charts and links I’ll keep an eye on the statistics. @MotherExtraordinaire as you say I think only time will tell. I imagine a very close eye is being kept on the data.

[quote Bettydot]@Hrpuffnstuff1 I agree that obesity is a huge problem and that the current situation is a massive wake up call. It’s the oversimplification of weight issues though that makes it so difficult for people to successfully tackle obesity. Obesity is often like an addiction and if it was more commonly treated in this way and the underlying issues and appropriate psychological issues were addressed alongside dietary advice and programmes there would be far fewer obese people. Personally I’ve yo-yo dieted for a long time and it’s only more recently when I’ve focused on my health and providing my body with nutritious foods alongside really tackling my mindset and relationship with food and my body that I’ve been able to start to make the sustainable and long lasting changes that are needed not only to loose weight but to keep it off. Shahroo Izadi is a psychologist who specialised in addiction therapy has written lots of articles on this topic that may give you a better insight into the issues and why weight loss isn’t as simple as you may assume. You are right obesity is a massive issue and brings with it so many additional health issues but the oversimplification of the issues behind it and how it is best tackled is one of the biggest barriers to reducing it.[/quote]
If we follow your line of reasoning then, do we have 75% of the population struggling with depression.
Basically we have an existential issue with society if only 25% people can mange both there mental health, how much they take care of themselves.

I think for a significant proportion that's not true. Government policy has failed the population, our food suppliers have poisoned us with sugar, booze and fatty foods.
We have a free country, so we are allowed to mange how we look after ourselves physically, we can eat what we want.
Look what's happened.
Its a national scandal.

plenty of young people were badly affected in the first wave too, I know of e=several teens left disabled.

quarks what disabilities do the teens have from covid?

@quarks that’s really sad too. There’s definitely reason to be extremely cautious regardless of age.

@Hrpuffnstuff1 nowhere did I say obesity is a result of depression. I said the psychological side of obesity needs to be tackled alongside dietary advice and plans. Psychological issues that may contribute to obesity include things like low self esteem, low self worth, poor body image, disordered eating, self medicating with food and many other issues. Without tackling these issues which all contribute to obesity it’s difficult for people to sustain weight loss. It’s the over simplification of obesity that is one of the biggest barriers to successfully tacking the crisis.

[quote Bettydot]@quarks that’s really sad too. There’s definitely reason to be extremely cautious regardless of age.

@Hrpuffnstuff1 nowhere did I say obesity is a result of depression. I said the psychological side of obesity needs to be tackled alongside dietary advice and plans. Psychological issues that may contribute to obesity include things like low self esteem, low self worth, poor body image, disordered eating, self medicating with food and many other issues. Without tackling these issues which all contribute to obesity it’s difficult for people to sustain weight loss. It’s the over simplification of obesity that is one of the biggest barriers to successfully tacking the crisis.[/quote]
There is a simple choice.
This pandemic has highlighted it.

Whilst sat in bed with bilateral pneumonia, the consultant asked me if I'd smoked. It's at that point I realised that serious illness doesn't care about issues.