Assessing Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19 Illness

COVID-19 can affect anyone, and the disease can cause symptoms ranging from mild to very severe.  For some other illnesses caused by respiratory viruses (such as influenza), some people may be more likely to have severe illness than others because they have characteristics or medical conditions that increase their risk. These are commonly called “risk factors.”  Examples include older age or having certain underlying medical conditions.

CDC is conducting disease surveillance and field investigations to better understand why some people are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 illness. This is one of the top priorities in CDC’s strategy to combat COVID-19. What we learn from these efforts will provide vital information to help CDC scientists and other public health officials make decisions to protect our most vulnerable populations.

CDC carries out these activities in collaboration with state, local, and territorial health departments; public health, commercial, and clinical laboratories; vital statistics offices; health care providers; emergency departments; and academic and private sector partners.

Why Risk Factors Matter

People with risk factors may be more likely to need hospitalization or intensive care if they have COVID-19, or they may be more likely to die of the infection.

It is important to learn about risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness because it can help you:

• Take precautions as you go about your daily life and attend events.
• Better understand how a medical condition could affect your own health if you get sick with COVID-19.
• Anticipate medical treatment that you might need if you get sick.
• Reduce your risk for severe COVID-19 illness by managing any conditions you have that are risk factors.

How We Learn about Risk Factors for Severe Disease

Because COVID-19 is a new disease, more work is needed to better understand the risk factors for severe illness or complications. Potential risk factors that have been identified to date include:

• Age
• Race/ethnicity
• Gender
• Some medical conditions
• Use of certain medications
• Poverty and crowding
• Certain occupations
• Pregnancy

Additional research will help us confirm if these are risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness and determine if there are other factors that increase a person’s risk.

Investigations

CDC is working to identify risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness through a variety of investigations, some of which are described below.  These investigations include adults and children and examine severe illness resulting in hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. As we continue to investigate risk factors for severe illness, we will update this webpage with new findings and new investigations.