Among adults, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age, with older adults at highest risk. Severe illness means that the person with COVID-19 may require hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they may even die.

Risk for Severe Illness Increases with Age

As you get older, your risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases. For example, people in their 50s are at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 40s. Similarly, people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s. The greatest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 is among those aged 85 or older.

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads in communities across America, local, state, and federal agencies are working to reduce the impact of food insecurity. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as inadequate access to affordable and nutritious food. In 2018, 11% of US households were considered food insecure, meaning they had difficulty at some time during the year obtaining enough food for all members of their household, due to lack of resources.1 Pandemics adversely affect food supply chains and as COVID-19 impacts the lives of millions of Americans, the greatest burden will be felt by low-income families.

Although drastic measures are being taken to reduce the impact of COVID-19, food-insecure families with food allergies (FAs) and other food-related conditions remain vulnerable.

FA is a potentially life-threatening condition, affecting 10.6% of adults and 7.6% of children in the United States. Patients with FA must eliminate allergens from their diet, resulting in costly grocery bills and an impaired quality of life. Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information

Scientists find sesame antibody testing predicts sesame allergy in food-allergic children

Investigators have found that sesame allergy is common among children with other food allergies, occurring in an estimated 17% of this population. In addition, the scientists have found that sesame antibody testing — whose utility has been controversial — accurately predicts whether a child with food allergy is allergic to sesame.

Source: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases