COVID-19 and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers
What Is the Evidence?
Ankit B. Patel, MD, PhD1; Ashish Verma, MBBS1
JAMA. Published online March 24, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4812
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a current pandemic infection caused by a positive-sense RNA virus named the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The particularly infectious capacity of the virus, along with mortality rates ranging from 1% to above 5%, has raised concerns across the globe.1 Older patients with comorbid conditions including pulmonary disease, cardiac disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension have been associated with even higher mortality rates, suggesting particularly susceptible populations.