Polish scientists find gene that doubles risk of serious COVID
Polish
scientists have found a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of
becoming severely ill with COVID-19, a discovery they hope could help doctors
identify people who are most at risk from the disease.
With vaccine hesitancy a major factor behind high coronavirus
death rates in central and eastern Europe, researchers hope that identifying
those at greatest risk will encourage them to get a shot and give them access
to more intensive treatment options in case of an infection.
"After more than a year and a half of work it was possible to
identify a gene responsible for a predisposition to becoming seriously ill
(with coronavirus)," said Health Minister Adam Niedzielski.
"This means that in the future we will be able to... identify
people with a predisposition to suffer seriously from COVID."
The researchers from the Medical University of Bialystok found
that the gene was the fourth most important factor determining how seriously a
person suffers from COVID-19, after age, weight and gender.
The gene is present in around 14% of the Polish population,
compared to 8-9% in Europe as a whole and 27% in India, said Marcin Moniuszko,
the professor in charge of the project.
Other studies have also shown the importance of genetic factors in
how seriously COVID-19 develops.
In November, British scientists said they had
identified a version of a gene that may be associated with double the risk of
lung failure from COVID-19.
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