More than 50% coronavirus patients on ventilators died: German study

BERLIN: (HRNW) One in five patients hospitalised in Germany over the coronavirus succumbed to the disease, with the fatality rate rising to 53% for those who received ventilation, a study showed Wednesday.

Data of 10,000 patients admitted to 930 German hospitals between February 26 and April 19 were analysed by the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, the Technical University of Berlin and AOK health insurance group´s research arm WIdO.

Hospitalised male patients had a higher mortality rate than women, with 25% compared to 19%.

Older patients were also significantly more vulnerable, as 27% percent of patients in their 70s died while 38% of those above 80 years old failed to pull through.

“These high mortality rates clearly show that a relatively high number of patients with a very serious course of disease were treated in hospitals,” said Juergen Klauber, director of WIdO.