【解説】新型コロナウイルスの死者について分かっていること

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国が新型コロナウイルスの発生を昨年12月に報告して以来、重症急性呼吸器症候群（SARS）に似たこのウイルスは2万4000人以上に感染し、死者は500人に迫ろうとしている。（写真は資料写真）
　中国国家衛生健康委員会（ＮＨＣ）の４日の発表によると、これまでの死者の８０％は６０歳以上の高齢者で、７５％には以前から糖尿病などの基礎疾患があった。
　ＮＨＣが発表している致死率は２．１％で、２００２～０３年に世界的に流行し８００人近くが死亡したＳＡＲＳの約１０％に比べるとかなり低い。
　新型コロナウイルスによる患者の９７％超は、流行の中心地とされている中国中部・湖北省の在住者。省都・武漢の市場では野生動物が売られていた。
　新型コロナウイルスの感染による死亡例について分かっていることをまとめた。

■死者の大半は６０歳以上
　保健衛生当局が発表した詳細によると、これまでに死亡した患者の年齢は３６～８９歳。うち少なくとも５人が６０歳未満だ。
　最年少は武漢市の３６歳の男性で、湖北省当局によると１月９日に入院し、２週間後に心不全で死亡した。基礎疾患に関する詳細は発表されていない。
　だが、広東省深セン市で先週退院した３５歳の男性のように、比較的若い患者は退院している。
　１０歳の少年が武漢に住む親戚を訪ねた後に感染した例もある。
　国営衛星テレビは２日、ウイルスに感染した北京在住の生後９か月の女児が快方に向かっていると報じた。

■死者の大半に基礎疾患
　新型コロナウイルス感染による死者の多くには、感染する以前に糖尿病や高血圧などの基礎疾患があった。
　例えば、１月９日に入院した８６歳の男性は高血圧と糖尿病に加え、４年前に結腸がんの手術を受けていた。

■熱が出ない患者もいる
　一部の都市では空港や駅、バスターミナルなどで保健当局が乗客の体温測定を実施している。だが、ＮＨＣによると、新型ウイルス感染によって死亡した全員が入院前に発熱を報告していたわけではないという。
　例えば６６歳の男性が昨年１２月２２日の時点で訴えていた主な症状は空せきで、熱はなかった。しかし、１週間以上経ってから息切れに苦しみ、１月中旬までには人工呼吸器を必要とするほど症状が悪化した。
　「大きな懸念は、このウイルスが引き起こす症状の深刻度に幅があることだ」と、英医学研究支援団体ウェルカムトラストのジェレミー・ファラー代表は指摘する。「感染しても非常に軽い症状の間に、あるいは全く症状がないままに、感染を広げている人がいるのは明らかだ」

■中国本土外で２人の死者
　ここへ来て、中国本土外での死者が２人確認された。香港で４日、３９歳の男性が死亡。地元メディアによると、男性は先月武漢を訪れており、治療を困難にする基礎疾患があったという。
　フィリピン当局は２日、武漢から訪れた４４歳の男性が死亡したと発表した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/02/06-09:30）

The first fatality from China's new virus would come to represent a common set of traits among most of those who have died of the disease: he was over the age of 60 and in poor health.
Since China reported the emergence of a new coronavirus in December, the SARS-like disease has infected more than 20,400 people and killed 425.
So far, 80 percent of victims were elderly individuals aged 60 or above and 75 percent had pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.
The mortality rate also stood at 2.1 percent, the commission noted -- much lower than the nearly 10 percent who lost their lives to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, when nearly 800 people died worldwide.
Over 97 percent of victims from the new virus hailed from central Hubei province, where a market that sold wild animals in the capital city, Wuhan, is believed to be the epicentre of the epidemic.
Chinese government records also list at least five victims under 60 -- with the youngest a 36-year-old man from Wuhan.
The death rate outside Hubei is 0.16 percent, officials said.
Only two fatalities have been reported outside mainland China so far -- a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who had travelled to Wuhan and a Chinese traveller from Wuhan who died in the Philippines.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) reported on Tuesday that there were 632 recoveries nationwide.
Of the 20,400 confirmed cases, the youngest is a one-month-old baby from the southern region of Guizhou and the oldest is 90.
Here's what we know so far about the deaths:
Most victims were over 60
According to details released by health officials, the victims to die of the virus were between 36 and 89 years old.
At least five were under the age of 60.
The youngest victim, a 36-year old man from Wuhan, was hospitalised on January 9 and died of heart failure two weeks later, Hubei health authorities said, without offering details on whether he had any pre-existing medical conditions.
Among those who have been discharged from the hospital were younger patients, including a 35-year-old man from Shenzhen, a bustling tech hub in southern Guangdong province.
He was released from the hospital on Thursday, according to the local health commission, as well as the 10-year-old boy who had visited relatives in Wuhan before falling ill.
State-run Beijing satellite TV reported Sunday that a nine-month old girl infected by the virus in Beijing was also recovering.
Many had pre-existing health conditions
Many of those who died from the virus also had pre-existing health issues before contracting the Wuhan disease, such as diabetes and hypertension.
One man, an 86-year-old who was hospitalised on January 9, had surgery for colon cancer four years prior, on top of suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes.
Another, an 80-year-old woman surnamed Hu, had Parkinson's Disease and more than 20 years of high blood pressure and diabetes in her medical history.
Not all of them had a fever
Currently, health authorities in several cities are screening passengers for fever at airports, railway stations, and bus terminals.
But not all those who died after being infected reported a fever before being hospitalised, according to the NHC.
A 66-year-old man surnamed Luo reported a mainly dry cough but no fever on December 22 before suffering from shortness of breath more than a week later.
By mid-January, Luo required a ventilator to help him breathe.
A major concern is the range of severity of symptoms this virus is causing, said Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust.
It is clear some people are being affected and are infectious while experiencing only very mild symptoms or possibly without experiencing symptoms at all, he said.
Two deaths outside mainland China
A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who had the virus died Tuesday, the city's Hospital Authority said.
It was the second outside mainland China after the Philippines reported Sunday the death of a man from Wuhan.
The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to slow the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong media said the man had underlying health issues that complicated his treatment. He had visited Wuhan last month.
Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the SARS outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.