In March 2020 we formed the @t21rs COVID-19 Initiative to understand the impact of COVID-19 in individuals with Down syndrome. Huge team effort that has resulted in data of >1,000 COVID-19 patients with Down syndrome: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.03.20225359v1 @drandrestrydom @maradierssen (1/4)

As in the general population, the most common signs and symptoms of COVID-19 were fever, cough, shortness of breath. Pain and nausea were reported less frequently (difficult to detect?), altered consciousness/confusion more frequently (indicator of disease severity?) (2/4)

Risk factors for hospitalization and mortality were similar to the general population (age, male gender, diabetes, obesity, dementia) with the addition of congenital heart defects as a risk factor for hospitalization. The last 4 are common comorbidities of Down syndrome! (3/4)

Hospitalized individuals with Down syndrome had a ~three-fold increased risk for mortality compared to the general population, especially from age 40. Younger individuals are unlikely to develop severe disease, but more data are needed to confirm this supposition. (4/4)