Havana City, Cuba.- The clinical severity in patients with Covid-19 could vary due to genetic risk factors, indicates a research develop today by experts from the National Center of Medical Genetics of Cuba.

In order to know more about this subject and to continue improving the strategies to face this disease, specialists from this scientific institution have been carrying out the research with Cuban patients since March.

‘Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the scientific community has agreed that the risk of suffering more severe clinical manifestations is mainly related to the patient’s age and to associated chronic diseases. However, severe conditions can occur in young people or in people with no history of disease,’ Dr. Hilda Roblejo, a specialist in Clinical Genetics, explained to Cubadebate.

The Assistant Professor and Researcher and Head of Teaching and Research at the National Center of Medical Genetics said that this clinical severity and the development of severe symptoms, even in cases without underlying diseases, could vary due to both genetic and non-genetic risk factors.

As she detailed, it is reasonable to assume this when taking into account previous evidence that the individual genetic constitution is one of the components of the complex interaction between environmental factors and genes, which regulate resistance or susceptibility to infection.

The research included 1,182 people recovered from the new coronavirus disease, and 502 first-degree relatives who live with them and presented a negative PCR.

Clinical factors such as blood group, presence of comorbidities, symptoms developed during the infection and the generation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were taken into account; besides diverse sociodemographic indicators such as age, sex, skin color and occupation, among others.

Until this November 3rd, Cuba registers 7,035 patients diagnosed with the disease, from which 530 are still hospitalized, two were evacuated to their countries, 129 died and 6,374 have been recovered.