Additional factors increase the risk of death from Covid-19

The findings provide new insights into why some people are more susceptible to severe illness and death than others, and open up the possibility of tailoring drugs.

Scientists at Oxford University say that about 60% of people of South Asian descent carry the gene, which explains why some regions have seen high death tolls and why India has been hit so hard by Covid-19.

They found that the increased risk came from LZTFL1, a gene that regulates the activity of other genes involved in the lung cell response to the virus.

However, the authors found that LZTFL1 does not affect the immune system's ability to produce antibodies to fight infection. Therefore, people with this gene variant still receive immune protection fromCovid-19 vaccineas usual.

Illustration: Healthjade

After taking into account risk factors for Covid-19 such as working in a high-risk occupation and living in a crowded area, “there was an excess risk identified in people of South Asian origin,” said Dr Raghib Ali, of the University of Cambridge.

The new study notes that "those people are more likely to carry the LZTFL1 gene, which increases the risk of death when infected with Covid-19".

The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Dr Simon Biddie, an intensive care specialist at the University of Edinburgh, said that although the study provided compelling evidence for the role of LZFTL1 in the lungs of severely ill Covid-19 patients, further follow-up was needed to confirm the findings./.