Alison Bernstein, Ph.D.:
High risk refers to people who are more likely to become severely ill if they are infected. For COVID, this is older adults and people with underlying medical conditions.
According to the CDC, people of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. These include:
1. Chronic kidney disease
2. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
3. Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
4. Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher)
5. Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
6. Sickle cell disease
7. Type 2 diabetes mellitus
8. Children who are medically complex, who have neurologic, genetic, metabolic conditions, or who have congenital heart disease are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 than other children.
However, COVID-19 is a new disease. Currently there are limited data and information about the impact of underlying medical conditions and whether they increase the risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19:
1. Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
2. Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
3. Cystic fibrosis
4. Hypertension or high blood pressure
5. Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
6. Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
7. Liver disease
8. Pregnancy
9. Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
10. Smoking
11. Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
12. Type 1 diabetes mellitus
Depending on the context, vulnerable populations in health care and research includes the economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, the uninsured, low-income children, the elderly, the homeless, those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and those with other chronic health conditions, including severe mental illness, children, prisoners, those with cognitive impairment. Some of these populations are also at high risk for severe cases of COVID-19. Some of these populations are also more likely to be exposed for a wide range of sociological and economic reasons.`
Resource: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-increased-risk.html