The adults Latin American youth are at higher risk of dying from covid-19 than their parents in developed countries, according to research published on Tuesday by economists at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) comparing data from countries most affected by the pandemic.
“Young and middle-aged adults in Latin America and the Caribbean are more likely to die or become seriously ill with covid-19 than their peers in more developed regions,” said IDB economists Juan Pablo Chauvin and Juan Nicolas Herrera. in a joint study with academic Annabelle Fowler.
The experts analyzed official statistics and determined that in developing countries younger age groups account for a “significantly higher proportion of deaths from covid-19” in relation to high-income countries.
An example is the case of Colombia, where for every 100 deaths from covid-19, about 30 correspond to people under the age of 60, while in the United States only 12 out of every 100 deaths correspond to the same age group.
“Non-elderly covid-19 patients are more likely to die from the disease in Mexico and Colombia than in the United States and Canada,” said the researchers, who found no significant differences in studying data from the population over 80 years.
A very eloquent fact is that an average positive patient of covid-19 in the age group of 40 to 49 years in Colombia or Mexico has statistically the same average probability of dying from the virus as a sick patient of the age group of 60 to 69 years in Canada or the United States.
“Our research found that younger populations are relatively less likely to recover from covid-19 in developing countries than in rich countries, “economists said, adding that there is a higher prevalence of pre-existing diseases related to complications and more limited access to hospitals in some countries.
Experts noted that the mortality gap is also explained by the mayor’s residential overcrowding and work informality in cities.
“As countries determine how to better distribute their vaccines, our work suggests that, in the developing world, age may not be a sufficient indicator of a person’s risk of covid-19 mortality,” Chauvin said.