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The Mystery of Why So Many 100-Year-Olds Are Surviving Covid-19
One scientist studying centenarians believes the answer may be in their genes
María Branyas, 113 years old and believed to be the oldest woman in Spain, had only mild symptoms of Covid-19. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy praised Sylvia Goldsholl for beating the novel coronavirus at the age of 108. Connie Titchen, 106, received a round of applause from doctors and nurses as she was wheeled out of Birmingham’s City Hospital. She said she felt very lucky to have fought off the virus.
One of the established facts about Covid-19 is that it hits older people hardest — which is why stories of centenarians beating Covid-19 piqued the curiosity of geneticist Mayana Zatz. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of dying due to Covid-19 is 630 times higher in people over the age of 85 as compared to young adults ages 18 to 29. So how come some of the oldest of the old are surviving Covid-19 unharmed?
Zatz, who directs the Human Genome and Stem-Cell Research Center at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, has a hunch that sheer luck is not enough to explain it. She has always been intrigued by how certain seniors seem to effortlessly overcome all kinds of health issues. In the past few years, her team sequenced…
