COVID-19 scientific review

The risk of having more severe outcomes after a respiratory tract (lung) infection is much increased in older people, especially in those with chronic medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, longstanding lung disease, and cancer. The recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, which causes COVID-19, has proven to be particularly devastating for individuals with Down syndrome at ages above 40. As of now, the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection has been confirmed in nearly 300 million people worldwide and is responsible for more than 5 million deaths (adapted from Our World in Data).

Individuals with Down syndrome are known to have problems in the various arms of the immune response. These have been shown to be associated with increased vulnerability to lung infections caused by the influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), and bacterial pneumonias. To highlight the importance of this vulnerability during the pandemic and to inform how to protect people with Down syndrome, the T21RS COVID-19 initiative has published two pivotal scientific reviews, focusing on the dysregulation of the immune response in Down syndrome and its association with the increased risk of respiratory infections and the specific susceptibility to COVID-19 in DS (Download at the end of this page).

These reviews discussed the functional dysregulation of the different branches of the immune response that occur in Down syndrome. These include changes in the innate and adaptive immune responses, their underlying genetic mechanisms, and real-life implications, such as efficacy of vaccines in Down syndrome. Moreover, these publications summarize recent findings that point at a higher risk of testing positive to SARS-Cov-2 in individuals with Down syndrome, longer and more frequent hospital admissions, and increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness and mortality than observed in the general population.