Apr.

4, 2022
Modified: Apr. 5, 2022
CTV News
COVID-19: Questions remain on why some are
more likely to contract the virus than others

After more than two years of COVID-19 and millions of cases, the
question of why some people get infected and others do not
remains somewhat of a mystery.

While multiple factors will determine whether a person gets sick,

preventing someone from getting the virus in the first place is
something researchers continue to pore over.
Since their rollout, COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to
effectively prevent serious illness requiring hospitalization and
death, although their effectiveness does wane over time and
vaccinated individuals can still contract the virus, as made evident
by the winter wave of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.

Health officials also are warning about a recent uptick in cases,

likely due to a combination of the BA.2 sub variant, waning
immunity and the lifting of a number of provincial pandemic
restrictions, including mask mandates.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Canada
remains far below where it was during the Omicron wave but
hospitalizations are slowly rising.

Here is what we know about the factors that could lead to a

COVID-19 infection, and potential disease, and what recent
studies say about the issue.

GENETICS
When it comes to infection and disease, Dr. Donald Vinh, an
infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre in
Montreal, notes that there are multiple steps involved.

First, a person needs to be infected, meaning they are exposed to

the virus and it has gotten into their cells.

After that, a person may be asymptomatic, have mild symptoms

or develop a more severe or life-threatening disease.
Vinh is part of an international consortium called the COVID
Human Genetic Effort trying to understand why some people
develop severe disease — and what treatments may help — and
why others may not get infected at all, a problem he described as
the "Achilles heel" of the pandemic.

RISK OF DISEASE

Age and pre-existing medical conditions are among the highest

risk factors when it comes to developing more severe symptoms.

Older adults, especially those over 60, make up a greater share of

COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths than younger age groups.

As of April 1, 2022, the Public Health Agency of Canada reports

that while more than half of all reported cases of COVID-19 have
involved those under 60, individuals older than that have made up
nearly two-thirds of all hospitalizations and the vast majority of
deaths.

A number of chronic medical conditions, including lung and heart

disease, hypertension or high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney
and liver disease, dementia and stroke, can lead to worse
outcomes.

Those who are immunocompromised due to an underlying

medical condition such as cancer or because they are on
chemotherapy can have lower immune systems. Those who are
obese are also at higher risk.
 Comprehension Questions

1. Where is this issue happening?

2. Why is this story important?

3. What is the main point of this article?

4. What are the supporting details in this article that

better explain the main point?

5. There is no concluding paragraph for this article.

Please write one (conclusion), summarizing the key
ideas of this article. (3-5 sentences)