What Is An ‘Underlying Health Condition’ Anyway?

When someone dies with Covid-19, one question that quickly comes up, is did they have an underlying health condition? It seems we find it easier to accept a person's death if we think they were already very ill or elderly, but is this just a way of excusing these deaths? And how do you know if your own medical conditions make you more vulnerable? The Quicky speaks to a medical expert to find out what counts as an 'underlying health condition', and how much of an impact that really has on your risk of falling seriously ill or even dying from Covid-19. CREDITS Host/Producer: Claire Murphy Executive Producer: Siobhán Moran-McFarlane Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Guest: Professor Nancy Baxter - Head of the School Of Population And Global Health at the University of Melbourne , a clinical epidemiologist, general surgeon and health services researcher. Subscribe to The Quicky at... https://mamamia.com.au/the-quicky/ CONTACT US Got a topic you'd like us to cover? Send us an email at [email protected] Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.