Dr. Hacker: Obesity a high risk factor for COVID-19 complications

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – New research shows age and obesity put you at a higher risk for complications should you contract coronavirus.

Dr. Mona Hacker joined Good Morning San Diego to talk about obesity and COVID-19 risk and what can people do to boost immunity in general.

The first CDC report released Friday was based on cases from 14 states. The researchers counted 576 hospitalizations of kids from March 1 through July 25. At least 12 were sick enough to need a machine to help them breathe. One died.

The hospitalization rate for Hispanic children was about 16.4 per 100,000. The rate for Black children was 10.5 per 100,000, and for white kids it was 2.1 per 100,000.

As with adults, many of the hospitalized children had existing health problems, including obesity, chronic lung conditions and — in the case of infants — preterm birth.

Recovering from even mild coronavirus infections can take at least two to three weeks. That’s according to new U.S. research published Friday. It found that even among young adults, 1 in 5 had lingering symptoms. Cough, fatigue and body aches were among the most common persistent symptoms.

Patients with chronic illness, especially obesity, were more likely to have lingering symptoms.