Why some heart patients may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19
As researchers examine deaths from COVID-19, heart patients appear especially vulnerable. In Italy, where the number of deaths has now surpassed those in China, public health officials reported on March 17 that among 355 people who died, a whopping 76 percent had hypertension and 33 percent had heart disease. And among more than 44,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China (SN: 2/25/20), the case fatality rate for people with underlying conditions was highest for those with cardiovascular disease, at 10.5 percent compared with the overall fatality rate of 2.3 percent. Researchers know generally that infections can take a toll on people who have other health problems. But SARS-CoV-19, the virus that causes COVID-19, may pose particular danger to the heart because of how the virus gets into cells, researchers speculate. To invade a cell, SARS-CoV-2 latches onto a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, or ACE2 (SN: 3/3/20). This protein is found on cells in the lungs, allowing the virus to invade these cells...